Sand Beneath my Feet
by Hiasobi
Summary: Hiiro is seeking redemption. Usagi wants salvation. Meilan chases after justice. Nephrite is trying to deal with being alive for the first time in a thousand years. HiiroUsagi MeilanWufei NephriteNaru. Everything eventually returns to its origins.
1. And he knew, they both knew

This is my first GWSM in a long while. I haven't finished my last one (and I think they might now need revision) but I'm starting a new one. Dipping my toes back in the water so to speak.

Dedicated to all those who inspired me before: **Chibi Tenshi, Comet Princess, Krys Yuy, Sailor Ronin Usa-chan**. If you are still in this fandom, hats off to all of you. Greetings from your long absent Hiasobi(a.k.a. Himiko)-chan: rabid HiiroUsagi fan, because of you. You brought me joy and light.

* * *

**Title:** Sand Beneath my Feet  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summery:** He saw her on the shore of an empty patch of beach. It's that simple and complicated. HiiroUsagi

* * *

He saw her on the shore of an empty patch of beach.

People will demand to know more, insisting that there had be more to it, but really, it had been that simple.

He saw her there standing close to the waterline on the sand, feet bare, hair tied up in golden buns with streamers flowing down all the way to her ankles. She wore nothing but a flimsy white sundress, the skirt and her hair floating in the wind. The sky was overcast with light gray clouds signaling possible rainfall, yet the humidity of the air was low, and rain would not come for several hours yet, if at all. She stood, toes digging into the warm sand, body half turned to the sea, and she was a small statue. A small, lean figure stranding on the shore watching the approaching waves, feeling the breeze on her skin, hair, and clothes.

He had been walking on the wooden path that extended across the beach, surrounding the sand and closing in on the water at different points. He wore dark shoes, black trousers, white dress shirt, a black tie, and his jacket slung over an arm, with his hands in his pockets. He had left a meeting in the morning, and had never gone home. Late afternoon with the cool air settling across the city, many avoided the beach for the extra chill coming from the water.

Some distance away an empty towel was laid out on the sand with a large handbag resting beside it, a pair of white sandals was discarded on the other side. The setting was obviously hers.

She turned to him when a particularly aggressive wind blew from over the water and pressed the fabric of her dress close to her body, outlining the delicate curves of her waist and legs. She turned, one hand up by her chin to keep the strands of loose hair from the flowing streamers out of her face. He was standing a distance away on the wooden boards on the path, staring at her.

She saw him, her bright blue eyes clear, and her mouth went 'oh'. They locked eyes; something inside of him tumbled, and clicked into place.

There was the walking up to her and the wide eyes on her face as she stared at him, there was the sound of sand being crushed under his docks and the annoying pebbles which always found its into the bottom of your shoe, there was the silence, and the slow blinking, and the tide coming in to touch the tip of her toes as they waited but none of that was what really mattered.

He saw her standing in that airy white sundress with flaring skirt, tight bodice, skinny shoulder straps, bare feet littered with sand, tangles winding her hair, crystal sapphire eyes looking at him, the bright patch on an overcast day - and that was it.

" Hello." She said, a voice like chimes.

" Hello." He replied monotonous.

Never mind she had Mamoru, and Destiny, and the Future, which had visited its Past. Never mind the pain and heartache and sacrifices she had given time and time again as Sailormoon for her Endymion, her Prince, her Fairytale. She was a Princess destined to become Queen and her Senshi were waiting for her at home, her family sitting in front of the TV on this weekend afternoon watching the news, her Reincarnated Love browsing bookstores searching for interesting reads, her Inners doing what they did best on their own time one of them sweeping, studying, cooking, shopping. Her Outer Guards were split up, two of them performing, one sitting in the audience, the fourth enjoying a cup of tea in a high-class restaurant. Her other suitor was gone back with the Starlights to rebuild their home world out in the far galaxy.

Never mind he had Relena waiting for him to come back and realize that he didn't have to sacrifice his life towards a mission already completed. Never mind the pain, guilt, shame and regret he carried for the lives he had taken. He was an ex-Gundam Pilot, Zero-One, Wing-Zero, Code Name: Hiiro Yui. He had taken lives, killed many, destroyed others, made mistakes, stained his hands in blood, caused a war, lost himself, taken suicidal missions, done the humanely impossible, ended a war, quailed a rebellion. He had no friends, no acquaintances, no one who knew of his true existence except those who had gone up against him in war and four comrades who waited news of his survival: one signing forms of business, one traveling with the circus, one working at a scrape yard, and one who currently sat behind a desk at Preventer Headquaters.

She smiled; the bright, innocent, light-filled smile and he asked, " A cup of coffee?"

It was phrased badly, barely a real sentence, horrible grammar, presumed too much, was horribly intrusive, wouldn't have made sense to half the people when being asked such a thing from a stranger, but she beamed and nodded, saying, " Hai!"

And he knew, they both knew, this was it, was forever. The One. The Only. The Last. The Best. For Better and Worse.

It's the first time he's ever spoken to someone of his same nationality, even though she was blonde, he was brunette, and they were both blue eyed, pale skinned and against the traditional mold of Japanese coloring. She was small, he as sturdy, and he walked with her towards the belongings set out on the sand. She stuck her sand covered soles into the sandals, rolled up the towel messily and stuck it into the large side bag. She hooked the braided straps over her shoulder and turned to him. He nodded and they stepped onto the wooden path leading to the street.

He took her to a local coffee house that he had never bothered to go into before. They each ordered a coffee, a piece of cake, and took it to sit out in the deserted patio in the overcast day. He drank and muttered while she chattered on. They ordered refills and stayed sitting, watching the passing people until the sun set in a collage of red, purple, and orange in the Earth sky. He spoke curtly, bluntly, cynically and she babbled with injections of smiles, laughter, and the occasional mockery of oneself.

When he finished the last sip of his drink, cake long gone, half stolen by her, he placed the dainty china cup back onto of its saucer and stood. She had long finished her drink and snack, only chattering to him as he sipped slow sips of coffee in-between watching the people, watching the scenery, watching her. He offered a hand out to her as she stopped talking and she blinked. She laughed, reaching down to take the bag by her feet and placed her hand in his.

They walked down the street hand in hand and when the sun slipped totally beneath the horizon he placed the jacket over her shoulders to fend off the cold. She flashed him a beaming smile and he tightened the grip on her hand. They passed by the closing shops and stopped to browse through some open venders. She was warm and exuberant. He was relaxed and cool. As the stars twinkled in the late night sky and all the shops closed, they skipped over the option of going to a dance club or bar, which would be the only places open at the hour, and he stuck their joined hands in his pocket.

She walked next to him, languid and content, her energy spent and now she matched him step for step in silence. He was quiet, didn't speak, the night air was fresh and calming. He took her past the park, the convenience mart owned by a Scottish couple, the antique store that marked the corner, the elementary school across the street taking up half a block, the row of suburban houses with lights on in the window, and walked up to his front door with her.

The detached two-story house with a basement was bland, the colors faded in the night. His neighbor's cat looked at them from behind the fence and he reached with the hand not intertwined with hers for his house keys. He opened the door, stepped up, tightened his grip, and she did not hesitate at all to follow him through the doorway.

That was it. She followed him home and she hasn't left since. She made some phone calls, to home, to her family across the country. She had come on a lone holiday by herself after graduating to find peace, acceptance, and found him. She told her family she was moving to the new city she had stopped in; she called her aunt who she had been staying with that she was going to pick up her things the next day. She asked her mother to ship her things to the new address, and soothed her irate father saying he could come visit sometime soon.

He calls no one, because no one knows where he is.

It's all very domestic. She rearranged some of his furniture, cleaned the house, cooked the meals some times, did the laundry, and laughingly tells him how she had been a disaster the first times she tried, but she has gotten better in the time since. He only has to clean up after her half the time.

His neighbors, whom had welcomed him into the neighborhood when he moved in, whom he acknowledged but was very distant to, were shocked and pleasantly surprised at the new addition to the household. She opened the door to let herself in when she had fetched her belongings and turned, saw them looking at her, and she beamed invitingly at them, offering a cup of tea or snacks in the house. She was high-spirited and cheerful, petite and upbeat, she looked like the shining sun moving inside his living room, and touched him when they had all thought him untouchable. She breathed life into the air and they all were all infatuated with her within one meeting.

" You're good for him." They told her before they left, smiling amused at her blush.

He took her shopping the next day, most of her things still back in Tokyo with her family. They bought her new clothes, furniture, and more kitchenware. They stopped off at decoration stores to pick wallpaper and curtain drapes. On the ride back as she chattered about the purchases he pulled to a stop in front of a simple, fancy looking, jewelry store.

She blinked and looked at him. " What are we here for?"

" Rings." He replied curtly, turning the engine off but not getting out of the car yet. If she was going to say no and he was making a fool out of himself, he rather it happened now and outside instead of in the store. She went 'oh' like on the beach and then smiled. The tension drained from him and they entered.

They picked matching sets but the jewels on his were small, less gaudy, while hers caught the light and sparkled at every angle. He paid and three days later the rings were resized for their personal fit. He slipped it on her finger as soon as he got home and she had tears in her eyes. A week after with a special license he obtained they were married with their multiple neighbors as witnesses.

The neighborhood loved her. They visited all the time and as a loner he might have hated it more if the wives didn't take to bringing meals and teaching her how to cook. It started off disastrous but soon she had many recipes added to her repertoire. The husbands and male members didn't have as close as a bond with him but they accepted his reticent behavior and were friendly.

He worked at a large business corporation in the security department; his job was to find holes in their electronic security system. His main work comprised of trying to hack into their system, create non-lethal or damaging programs that tested their security, and send the report up to the software department. To him the system was always riddled with holes, but he took to mentioning only one of two of the most obvious ones, send the report up, then waited and watched how they fixed the potential entry, if they fixed or riddled the system with more holes, then sent another report. Occasionally he also wrote protection software when he felt the company was working too slowly. The company let him do whatever he wanted as long as he continued to turn out the top-of-the-line results.

Few days later when her family called she told them she found a job. She had been hired as a part time assistant to the head of the Public Relations of his company. The head of the Public Relations had three different assistants at all times and he had submitted her resume when the opportunity had arisen. She was bright, cheerful, hard working, personable, and people liked her. After some initial accidents, she became a hit.

They both went to work and rules about internal fraternizing didn't affect them when they were already married. They both worked odd hours but they always went to work together in the morning, she dropped by his office during lunch, and he tried to be there to pick her up when she got off work.

She cooked and cleaned most days at home; the days when she was tired or stressed he took over. She liked doing the laundry, decorating the house, entertaining their neighbors, and playing with the neighborhood children. She was light and laughter, sunshine and hope, love and joy. She was bringing him out of his shell, helping him forgive himself by pieces, and he saw the shadows in her eyes, the secrets she also kept, and he accepted them too. The neighborhood bustled and Usagi became a central figure in many lives. She grew under careful guidance and flourished with new confidence.

When they looked at each other she felt complete, something tumbled inside of him and he was whole, and they both understood each other, accepted each other, even when they hadn't known the other's secrets.

By the time their family and friends came it would be too late, they had settled into this life, this house, this love. More then settled, they thrived.

Under the covers at night, fingers intertwined looking at each other across the pillow, they confided their hopes, fears, dreams, scars, desires, pain, secrets, and love.

**. : follow your emotions : .**


	2. the Shadow has a name

Thanks to _Sunshine Fia, mystlady, Choas Babe, Rae54, Nerf-or-Nothing, and MooCow_ for reviewing.

Ikuko - Usagi's mother  
Kenji - Usagi's father  
Shingo - Usagi's younger brother

Fiona - Usagi's aunt. (Made up character)

* * *

**Title:** Sand Beneath my Feet  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summery:** He saw her on the shore of an empty patch of beach. It's that simple and complicated. HiiroUsagi

* * *

Mamoru got the letter in the mail two and half weeks later: _I'm sorry. I love you. Usagi._

He flipped opened the flap and his small promise ring tumbled out of the white, nondescript, ordinary envelope with air miles stamps posted on the top corner.

Usagi had left almost three weeks ago to go visit her aunt in the United States of America. Her aunt, her mother's sister, had said it was a graduating present, paying for Usagi's air fare and enticing her with an all-expense paid trip to the country. Tsukino Ikuko's sister had complained she hadn't seen her niece or nephew for years and demanded that the parents could spare one to visit their lonely aunt. Shingo hadn't wanted to go, but Usagi had wanted to see what the America was like, the country where Mamoru was supposed to have studied in before...before. Ikuko had left instructions to her younger sister to be strict with her daughter, warned her of Usagi's often-clumsy tendencies, and to encourage her to study. Usagi's aunt had laughed and said they would focus on her niece's English, which to be fair, would probably take considerable effort. Kenji thought it would do her well, being the foreign country would force Usagi to learn the language fluently.

There was a second piece of paper in the envelope.

_Please forgive me. I love you and loved being with you, you my Prince, my White Knight, my Love. You taught me how to love, live, and trust. You taught me to appreciate each day, to laugh and play, to look forward into the future. I know this will hurt you, this will confuse you, and maybe you'll hate me a little bit too, but Mamoru, I can't do it anymore._

_You are tall, strong, imposing, my Endymion, my Prince, my Tuxedo Mask. You found me in the life reborn where we loved again without the restricting stations and forbidden rules. And I love you, very much, but things change, things are different. _

_You taught me about life, love, and trust but you also taught me about betrayal, pain, battle and sacrifice. I love being with you, being your love, your light, the one you said taught you how to live again. _

_You were my Savior as Tuxedo Mask and then you were my Prince as Endymion. And the love I felt, when I remembered who you were, was so deep, so true, so full it hurt. Because the Negaverse turned you and you didn't remember me, and I believed so hard, tried so hard to help you remember. And I did, I did, but when I took up that sword and fought you, when I took that sword and stabbed you, I gave up my Endymion, I gave up my Prince. I chose duty over love. I was Sailor Moon, a Senshi, a fighter and I gave up the Prince to my Princess, had to keep walking._

_From then on you were only Mamoru and Tuxedo Mask, but even then you pushed me away. You denied me, after the sacrifice and the pain. You taught me a little about betrayal then. Endymion would have stayed, would have believed in me, fought for me like I fought for him in the Negaverse, that was the reason I fought and believed because I couldn't forgive myself because I knew Endymion would never give up on me. And he didn't, we called him White Knight. And after you were scared, of me, of you, of what would happen if you stayed with me. I forgave you because I love you so much. I live in my faith in you, even when sometimes you can't do the same for me. _

_And that's when, after all this time, maybe I saw a little of that. I saw the differences, the change, because we are Mamoru and Usagi and not Endymion and Serenity. I gave Endymion up when I killed him with the sword, I made my choice then. I chose duty over love, and Mamoru over Endymion. You were still my Prince but Endymion is only a part of you. Yet I think you only see Serenity in me. _

_Usagi is more energetic and cheerful then Serenity, but we are the same optimistic person. Yet Serenity is not the only part of Usagi. You are Tuxedo Mask and maybe it's hard for you to see it when you save me in battle all the time, but I am also Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon is a Senshi and she fights, and she does what she has to, to win and protect her loved ones. Sailor Moon never existed in the Silver Millennium. Sailor Moon is purely a part of Usagi, not Serenity. _

_Sailor Moon is a fighter, a protector and has seen and done things a Princess would never had or have had to. If Serenity is the Moon, then Usagi is the Sun, but the sun cast shadows. You wish to simply see the sunlight and ignore how the shadows, predominant in the night with the moon, are still there in the day. We lived like that, in the light, in the sun happily for many years, and the Moon came only in battle. But the day shadows are still there and it hurts because we all refuse to see it, and it pains me because the Shadow has a name, we call her Sailor Moon. _

_I can't do it anymore. I can't be Serenity and Usagi, and Sailor Moon as only a bridge between the two. I am both, I am all three, and it hurt too much because I gave up Endymion but you still only see Serenity and I chose duty over love, I chose Mamoru over Endymion, I chose Tuxedo Mask over the White Knight, and I chose Sailor Moon over Princess Serenity. _

_You taught me about love, life, trust and the betraying of that trust. I love you, love you, love you, but I can't do it anymore. I need someone who will accept the shadows as well as the night and day._

_I'm sorry. I love you._

_Usagi._

The letter crinkled in his fingers and the small ring clenched tightly in his hand dug into his palm. The metal circle cut his skin and he felt the muscle tear, blood trickling from his fist. He blinked back hot tears, eyes bright and burning, in the 25th reading of the letter. His chest was tight, the light shining in from his window made long shadows in the living room. His heart was breaking, but it understood some as well.

He protested quietly in the empty silence. " _I'm_ sorry, Usagi."

She had sacrificed so much for him, so many times, forgave him his mistakes, always accepted him for what he was, but he hadn't done the same for her. He hadn't wanted to see the shadows, the secrets, and the changes that made her different, stranger, and stronger than her past life. He had fought for her, protected her in the last life, but this life she fought for him, protected him and everyone else. They always depended on her, on her power, on her will, her determination, her victory. That kind of responsibility changed people, the choices she had to make changed her, but they hadn't wanted to see it. Hadn't wanted to acknowledge that while she had never failed, there had always been heavy prices to be paid. Sometimes it came in the pieces of her innocence and purity they prized in her.

He had to talk to her, had to go to her. He had made his mistakes before but she had always forgiven him. He just needed to go and beg for another chance, and this time, he would do things right.

* * *

" Are the rest of your things packed Shingo?" Ikuko shouted up the stairs. " We're going soon!"

It was two weeks after Usagi had called, saying she was going to stay in the Americas for good, and four weeks since she had left for the trip. As soon as they had heard Kenji had started packing for the trip to convince their wayward daughter to come home. Ikuko wasn't about to let her husband go without her, and her sister didn't get along too well with Kenji. Even Shingo, who first had been disbelieving when told what Usagi had decided, now was determined to go with them. It had taken two weeks for Kenji to get leave from his company to go on vacation and to book the air tickets.

" What were you thinking, letting her take all her things away?" Kenji demanded on the phone with Fiona.

" She found a perfectly nice place of her own." Fiona retorted, " She wanted to move out, I didn't see why not."

" And you just let her?" Kenji shouted.

" She's a grown up woman!" Fiona blasted over the seas. " In case you haven't noticed! She's reaching twenty! She can make her own decisions!"

" No she CAN'T!" Kenji yelled back. " IF you haven't noticed she made this hair brained idea to STAY IN AMERICA. She's barely old enough to leave the house and make small decisions, and now you tell me she hasn't even been living with you for over two weeks?!"

That had been the wrong thing to say, while Ikuko and Kenji were both in their early forties; Fiona had been born more then a decade younger than Ikuko as a delightful surprise to their parents. At the age of twenty-six, Fiona thought twenty was a good age to indicate independent thinking. " She has a job! A good job! She can support herself!" Fiona shouted angrily. " I check up on her all the time, and she's doing a fine job of looking after herself!"

Ikuko standing across the room from her husband could hear both sides of the argument. She rolled her eyes and stomped over to her red-faced husband. " Give me that." She said snatching the phone out of Kenji's hands. " Go finish your packing."

Kenji made to argue but shrunk under his wife's fierce glare. " Yes dear." He said meekly and hurried off.

" Fiona." Ikuko said.

" Ikuko." Fiona replied warmly.

Fiona had disliked Kenji ever since they had been married, simply on the principle that Kenji had taken Ikuko away. At such an age gap between the two sisters Ikuko had been a second mother as well as sister to the younger sibling. And worse than just marrying her and promising Ikuko kids of her own, Kenji had upped and moved Ikuko across the oceans to Japan when his trip to United States was over.

While Fiona agreed that Usagi was very kind hearted, almost too much, and could easily betaken advantage of, Usagi was also more mature then the parents had Fiona initially believe. Usagi was grown and in her eyes and demeanor was a person who was used to living each day to the fullest, and knew what made things worth it. Usagi was naive, but she wasn't a fool or the child her parents, especially Kenji, seemed to think she was. Fiona knew that was usually the case with most parents, they were never ready for their children to grow up, and they would never see it until their child made a defining decision, just like Usagi had done.

And if it meant that Usagi would stay a short bus ride instead of an airplane ride from her house, that was a point on the positive side, but not of heavy relevance. Much.

" We should be there in two days." Ikuko said.

" I look forward to seeing you and Shingo." Fiona replied.

Ikuko felt amusement at the deliberate omission of her husband's name. " Kenji would be pleased to see you too." Fiona snorted. " Are you sure you have enough room for all of us?"

" There are two guest rooms, which is why I invited both Shingo and Usagi in the first place. If you don't mind sharing with the stubborn mule, there should be enough room. If not, make him sleep on the coach." Fiona said. " Wait. That's actually a pretty good idea, I'll air some spare blankets."

Ikuko laughed. " I hope we won't be inconveniencing you too badly, but I guess I'll finally be able to meet this Christopher of yours face to face." Christopher was Fiona's boyfriend of two years who recently proposed, and they were supposed to fly over next spring for the wedding.

" Yes." Fiona's tone took on a warm feeling at the mention of her love. " Speaking of men to meet, Usagi introduced me to this lovely young man of hers. We had family dinner and everything."

" Oh?" Ikuko listened avidly.

" You won't believe it." The younger sister enthused. " I could hardly believe it myself that Usagi was able to get such a good catch."

" Who is he?" Ikuko prompted.

" He's a prodigy, possibly one or two years older then Usagi." Fiona gossiped. " He works at the security department in the most prominent business corporation around, designing programs. He's been there barely a year and he makes a six-digit income."

Ikuko gasped.

" He's a very reserved person." Fiona confided. " But Usagi seems to have him wrapped around her finger. They're so sweet together. She opens him up and he keeps her grounded. Not to mention he's incredibly good looking."

" Really?" Ikuko asked, wanting more details.

" They met about two weeks ago, and they are very firmly attached." Understatement, but Fiona deliberately omitted mention of the marriage. That news was for Hiiro and Usagi to share. She couldn't wait to see Kenji's face when they realized they couldn't just up and take Usagi away. Cruel of her yes, but god, she had been waiting so long to get one up back on Kenji.

" What's his name?" Ikuko sounded delighted.

" Hiiro Yui, yes, named after the famous politician." Fiona answered before her older sister could ask. Hiiro had already agreed, disgruntled, to have another big wedding for their family and friends after they were introduced and things settled down. The small private wedding, a ceremony with a civil minister in the morning, and a priest in the afternoon, had been wonderful but there was always the large wedding of a girl's dream. Usagi was exhilarated and Hiiro grumbled but a smile tugged at his lips. Fiona thought the two of them were adorable together.

" I can't wait to meet him, he sounds great." Ikuko enthused. " Hopefully he'll stick around." Usagi's energy and naivety coupled with her childish behavior could chase many men away.

" You have no clue." Fiona replied faintly.

" Meet who?" Kenji asked, coming back into the living room.

" Christopher." Ikuko answered promptly. " You remember, Fiona's boyfriend who proposed?"

" Oh, yes." Kenji said. " Quite..." He couldn't find a word and Ikuko could feel Fiona simmer on the other end.

" Well," Ikuko announced loudly, " I best finish packing Usagi's things."

" You don't have to pack her things." Kenji protested. " She's coming back."

Fiona snorted over the line and Kenji glared.

" Be as that may." Ikuko said clearly. " She'll still be staying longer then she originally planned, I'm sure she would appreciate some things to remind her of home."

" Oh." Kenji blinked. " Yes, actually that's great. Pack some of her posters and things too." He said warming to the idea. " The pictures of her friends and those idols of her, the Sailor Scouts. Certainly _they're_ not overseas."

" Good bye, Fiona." Ikuko said to the phone. " We'll see you in two days. Remember when to pick us from the airport?"

" I got your flight details right in front of me." Fiona said, looking at the bulletin board above the phone table.

Ikuko nodded. " See you soon."

" See you soon." Fiona repeated.

**. : open your eyes : .**


	3. I was a Soldier

Thanks to _Bluejello, G.Kim, Irin Black, Hunter Hatake and Neko Uchiha, Algenlic-Flame-05, wolfprincess09, Butterfly's Child, Sagishi, Nerf-or-Nothing, seijin, scarlet moon, lighgazer88, Eternal SailorM (forgive me for not mentioning you last chapter!), and Majesta Moniet_ for reviewing.

As you can see I am using the Japanese spelling of the Sailormoon characters so to clear that up:  
Usagi - Serena - Sailormoon  
Mamoru - Darien - Tuxudo Mask  
Ikuko - Irene - Serena's Mother  
Kenji - Ken - Serena's Father  
Shingo - Sammy - Serena's little brother

Gundam Wing:  
Hiiro Yui - Heero Yuy - Pilot 01  
Duo Maxwell - Pilot 02  
Trowa Barton - Pilot 03  
Quatre Rebarba Winner - Pilot 04  
Chang Wufei - Wufei Chang - Pilot 05  
Zechs Merquise - Millardo Peacecraft - Pilot 06? (He gets designated honorary statues as one of the only other Pilot in the series I think...)

From this chapter on there will be **SPOILERS for EPIZODE ZERO**. So please...if you hate them...I'm sorry?

I also want to pimp a LJ community:  
**Soldato: this is it** ( community. livejournal. com/ soldato/)  
A GundamWing/SailorMoon crossover community. The ONLY GW/SM community I've found. Hasn't moved in a while but hopefully it'll revive itself.

* * *

**Title:** Sand Beneath my Feet  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summery:** He saw her on the shore of an empty patch of beach. It's that simple and complicated. HiiroUsagi

* * *

Two sets of deep blue eyes staring into each other across the pillow: "I was a soldier."

* * *

"I found him!" An analyst called out in Preventers Headquarters station in L3 Colony.

All present officers converged to the table laden with papers and looked at the blinking screen with a personnel profile of an employee at an electronics Corporation.

"It's him alright." Wufei said looking over the seated Sally Po's shoulder staring at the two by three inches photo on the upper right corner of the page. "Hiiro Yui, twenty-one, brown hair blue eyes, computer programmer, internal security." He snorted. "Changed his spelling of the name, that was the reason why we had such a hard time locating him."

"Not to mention the abundance of people named after a famous politician." Noin said dryly. As well as many of the false leads other search blockages they've had trying to find the ex-Gundam Pilot. If nothing, Hiiro was thorough.

"We never actually saw him write his name." Sally Po pointed out reasonably. "He could have always spelled it like this, and simply let others assume the other spelling; it would save him from discovery."

" Whatever woman." Wufei said. " Now that we've found him, we can contact him."

" He's been at this location for a year." Noin observed, " I'm surprised we didn't find him sooner."

" We haven't had reason to find him sooner." Wufei retorted.

Noin and Zechs traded looks and everyone heard underneath the silence a name; Relena. But no one brought it up for discussion.

" Are we still getting those abnormal readings from the Artic?" Sally asked.

" From the North Pole. The energy readings are strange, but we've found no evidence of any form to indicate the origins." Noin replied, reading over the charts once more. " The last people who were around the area was..."

" Yui and I." Zechs completed calmly. " I do not remember any thing other than a barren snow landscape nor did I receive any information at that time to indicate possible sources of this energy."

" Yet the charts show that the energy has been a build up, lasting several years." Wufei remarked dryly.

Zechs inclined his head but added no comment.

" We can only hope to contact Hiiro and hope he had possibly picked up any information on the strange phenomenon." Sally said. " Or that he can go investigate and find something. Our own teams sent have brought nothing back."

" Nothing," Wufei said, " except a select few who seems to be unnerved about going back."

" They found nothing," Sally protested. " They were with a team member at all times. You just want to find answers and pushing for information where there is none."

" Then why do they seem scared of going back?" Wufei argued.

" Not scared." Noin cut in. " Slightly unnerved maybe, and inclined to ask for a different assignment. Not that I blame them, the North Pole is quite cold."

Wufei scowled but did not bother to argue further, they've been tossing the same words around for the past few months.

" The readings are not compatible with what a build up of Gundamium or other collection of elements that would indicate a gathering of mobile suits. Yet the reading is strange..." Sally trailed off flipping the charts, scanning the feedback graphs once more. She puzzled over the new spikes.

" The build up is of a considerable amount." Noin finished quietly. " If someone is harnessing it, it could do a large amount of damage."

Wufei looked away and walked back over to his temporary desk. Somehow, it always came down to Yui for the answers; to the scattered Gundam Pilots, whose purpose was supposed to be _over_, to find a new way for the world and to protect the peace. He sat down on his chair and silently went over the paper work once more.

The five of them had given their price, paid their vengeance, had fought and carried out their goals to the end as stead fast and honorably as they could. Hadn't the five of them given enough? First it would him seeking out Yui as a Preventer contact, then slowly the other Pilots would be drawn in once more, Wufei knew it. They all just wanted peace and a place in the new life - why was that so hard to do?

Winner, Barton, and Maxwell were settling into their new roles fairly well, putting the violence behind them. Wufei himself had been finally thinking of peace, of enough war, of starting his Clan once more...

He looked up to see Noin and Merquise exchanging a communicating look. " Leave the pacifist out of it." He told them. " Yui would not appreciate us barging into his business."

Noin smiled. " I think you are right. If he wanted to Relena to know, he would contact her himself."

Merquise inclined his head.

* * *

Two figures moved smoothly in unison on the grass in the back of a two story suburban house. Their hands were languid and their bodies flowed from position to position in a pratice kata. The movements started off simply then gained complexity as time passed. The smaller figure on the left with long streaming hair of sun fumbled in the beginning but gained grace after the initial bumps, then as time wore on, she tightly focused on her own body and shifted from form to form, grace and elegance, as well as gaining a speed and flexibility that out stripped her partner.

The figure on the right finished the routine prematurely to watch her friend. Intelligent brown eyes looked out from a tiny Chinese face with black hair tied up in two pigtails on the side of her neck, she watched her new friend and training partner with critical eyes.

Hiiro exited the house after his morning shower, having completed his daily training and morning spar with his wife and their friend. A towel hung over his shoulders to catch stray drops of water and a can of juice was in his left hand. He saw Long Meilan, their neighbor from two doors down, examining Usagi's form as his wife went through the kata.

Meilan had been one of the first to greet Usagi when she had moved in, wanting to see the woman who could attract the solitary computer designer. Meilan and Hiiro had an understanding, as they were the only two who trained viciously in the same neighborhood in the early hours of the day. They had both acknowledged the other was skilled, and probably had secrets to why they showed such skills at an early age. They stayed out of each other business, jogging past each other in the morning, but never acknowledging the other.

That was until Usagi came into their lives. When Usagi let it be known that she had no formal training in marital arts but would very dearly wish to learn, Meilan and Hiiro had volunteered. They were both hard task masters and Usagi had been stunned at what they considered beginner's level, Hiiro more especially than Meilan. She had been in deep pain the first few days after training but she had improved greatly since, very greatly.

So much so that Meilan and Hiiro had cultivated suspicions of her past. Usagi had surprised them initially with her body's excellent condition, she had simply hadn't known the correct forms and movements. Yet the way she moved with the silent grace and quiet elegance spoke of some previous experience or large natural talent. When they had started her on katas and sparring, her body reacted; avoiding punches, shifting to the side at last moment, spinning to put the most force behind her attacks. It suggested body memory, body memory which had came out of battle experience.

Yet confusingly when asked to show what she knew or being taught to link a series of movements together made her extremely clumsy. This meant she had learned her last moment shifts and fierce attacks in bits and pieces and they appeared to her naturally in moments of distress, because that was how she had learned them. This meant she had been placed into battle without initial training to sink or swim. The notion angered the martial artist and the trained soldier.

Meilan was the same age as Hiiro, and Usagi was one year younger at twenty years old as of last week on her birthday. Meilan had a hard time believing that such a cheerful girl could have the neighbourhood loner Hiiro Yui wrapped around her finger, but when she had shared that cup of tea with her the first time and Meilan had looked up to see the age reflected in her eyes, Meilan understood. All three of them were older than they were.

The young woman watched Usagi go through her movements and her lips pinched in curiosity, suspicion, and puzzlement. When Usagi blocked out of rest of the world, when she wasn't focused on her feelings of inadequacy or self-awareness, she moved with great style and poise, and an agility and speed that seemed past human limits.

Hiiro also watched Usagi's movements intensely. When Usagi sparred with Hiiro, Hiiro made sure to hold back some skills but the man was used to being the one underestimated and as the smaller opponent, using speed and manoeuvrability to his advantage. Hiiro's build and talent spoke for itself, and the man's skills pushed the human body to its limits. Usagi always seemed to pass that limit when she forgot herself and purely fought.

He sat down on the back porch where he had a table and chair set up wit his laptop hooked up. He brought up the files once more and frowned. He had told Usagi he had been a siolder and fought in the last Eve war and the Mariemeia rebellion some two weeks ago. The night before her birthday Usagi had been pensive as she lay in their bed. She had reached out with her smooth hand, gripped his calloused fingers tightly, and whispered the same words back to him.

Now he sat in front of his computer pulling all her records from international and local records. She had attended school and lived at home; she had never travelled out of Japan until she visited the States, three times when she was younger before this final time, to visit her aunt. During her teen years and the years of the Colony and Earth war, and the Mariemeia rebellion, she was in Japan. Japan had been part of the Alliance countries but it had not been affected much. Their military had been small and their mobile suits had stayed within the country's limits in case there was an attack. The Japanese military had been on alert but there had been no movement from the island. It had enviably retained its peaceful existence the whole time of conflict.

Yet the government was very secretive about any happenings outside the norm in reports to the Earth Sphere United Nation (ESUN) during and after the war. They covered it well but the newspapers and organizations obviously were on alert for some kind of activity during the time. There were money flowing to the hospitals and far more support shelters then before the war. The nation had reported that the movement had been in preparation to respond to the threat of the war if it ever reached the Japanese borders, but there had been some reports a few years back of buildings disappearing, mass evacuation, epidemic lockdowns, and national security measure being called. Yet the death toll in the country had not differed then the years when it had lived in peace.

The only thing Hiiro could find was the newspapers which had reported curious incidents and broadcasts which talked of suspicious events, and they all mentioned a group called the 'Sailor Scouts'. Fully included with pictures and blurry action footage. There were news articles on monsters in the park and instructions for population safety measures in cases of encounter - and it would all be nonsense except they were printed in the national and local official papers and broadcasts, instead of a tabloid magazine.

As Hiiro eliminated the impossible, what was left was improbable, yet had to be the truth; especially the longer he stared at the poster figures of the Japanese heroines, and their leader. He knew those curves, he lingered over them every day; he knew those reflexes, he saw them in his backyard in the morning; he knew those eyes and hair and mouth and smile, it was the last things he saw at night and first things he saw in the morning. It was Usagi: standing posed in a short blue skirt, tight white body bodice, high boots, long gloves, ornaments in her hair, and in later pictures, _wings_ coming from her back.

It explained the shadows in her eyes, the too-quick movements of her body, the secrets lingering around her. He had confronted her three days after her confession, still half disbelieving but unable to come to any other conclusion. She had blinked, stilled, and then smiled with a mix of sadness, shock, fear, trepidation, expectancy, and hope. Slowly she had confessed the rest of her history, and as improbable as it was, her trembling hands, quiet voice, and the conviction in her eyes, meant it was real. All the things she had said hidden in the night under the covers with him and her ability to understand him then made sense. Slowly, with just as much lingering fear and hope, he had finished his confession as well: his past with Odin Lowe and a Gundam Pilot instead of a nameless, faceless, rankless soldier of the Colonies.

It had been terrifying; trust with these secrets came hard. But Usagi still laughed, still smiled, still nagged and teased him, still loved him, and he felt saved. He still loved her, each and every smile and giggle and bright shining eyes staring at him expectantly, each word whispering to him that he was being rude, each puffed cheek signaling he was getting on her nerves. Each shadow and secret that changed and shaped them and made them belong to each other.

He took a sip of the juice and cleared all the records from his laptop and covered his trails. He also locked down the news articles and broadcasts from Japan so that no connection outside the island country could access them. The past battles were Japan's private war, it would stay as such.

The computer beeped and a message popped up informing him he had a private electronic mail sent to him from the Preventers Headquarters. He opened his business inbox to see the subject line: Urgent, Sensitive, Code G-16. So they had finally found his location, or at least 05 had. Hiiro tapped idly at the keys before opening the message, wondering if Chang Wufei knew the wife he thought dead was currently in Hiiro's backyard disciplining Usagi for leaving her left side open for attack.

**. : wherever you go : . **


	4. Interlude: supposed to be dead

Thanks to _Bluejello, wolfprincess09, Butterfly's Child, Sagishi, Falling Right Side-Up, and Sunshine Fia_ for reviewing.

This is Meilan's and a surprise person's back story. Those of you who know Wufei's **Epizode Zero** and **Sailor Moon** first season should recognize the characters. Oh yeah, by the way, **SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! **

* * *

If nothing else, Meilan remembers the pain, the heat of explosion, anger, conviction and _I am Nataku!_, and flash, suits blown up, pieces of the colony being destroyed, her people getting injured, getting _killed_, and she was going to repay it all to the Alliance - every life, each drop of blood, every bit of dishonor and betrayal.

Pain.

Blood.

The burning heat of internal damage and she knew, she knew she wasn't going to make it past this battle. Then he comes along, the stupid Scholar who told her justice was immaterial and not real, but there he was raising in that mix of white, red, blue and he was fighting, fighting with every fiber and ounce of skill he had.

He was magnificent, he was her husband.

In the end she who he thought immature, unwise, and too stubborn - she saved his meadow. The flowers were beautiful and the warm air relaxing. She was able to have done this for him if nothing else. She had been strong, had always been strong and had never doubted it until she challenged him, this man-boy who was quiet, who didn't believe in justice, didn't believe in fighting, and didn't believe in _her_. He might have beaten her in the duel but she was proving it to him here that she was still strong, she still believed. They hadn't gotten along as evidenced by their many arguments and shows of temperamental fits but they had respected each other, even if they had not known it, even if they would have not believed it.

But he was there fighting and she was here protecting, and maybe they hadn't been so badly suited after all except it was too late. The Alliance was demolishing the colony and killing their people and taking away all the reasons they had to marry in the first place. When it was over, when she is gone, she hopes he can be happy, and that he finds someone to be with that makes him happy.

"I... was strong, wasn't I? You weren't ashamed of me being your wife, were you?" she whispered to him, bleeding in his arms, lying in the groove he had never welcomed her in before.

He looked so strong when he replied, he looked like a man she was proud to call her husband. "Yeah... You're stronger than anyone."

She smiled lightly; he had never seen much of her smiles. "No... You are... stronger." She said, leaning into him because she had never sought his warmth before but now it was all she wanted and she felt herself float away.

She hoped he remembered her when he moved on, and that he recalled her admirably, that he was proud at some point to have had her as his wife.

She was moving, flying, floating and she felt no more pain, her injuries only phantoms, but she was sad and full of anguish. Her colony was broken, her people were dead, and she had left her husband behind right when he finally acknowledged her. She would never know now if they could have made it work. She wished there had been another way, that it hadn't needed to end like this. She hoped in the next life she would see him again, and this time, let him know what a fine warrior he made.

She floated through space, the sun shining on the Earth, the Earth she had never set foot upon and whom many had remarked of the beauty she would never see now: real rain, the shining moon, a _sky_, the oceans, large mountains, and the wonders she had lost because her chances were over. It wasn't so bad, feeling herself fade, space had its own beauty, and she had her life and lived it, she died young but at the very least, she had been married.

Then from the edge of the abyss, from the beginning of the tunnel, a light came, brilliant and warm in the place of no-feeling and cold. A voice: earnest, desperate, full of tears and hope, an acceptance.

**_Please make my wish come true...make everything_ right. **

She felt the light envelope her, felt her body return, felt weight, breath, sight, touch, smell, skin, muscle, _her_, once more for a pure moment of happiness and astonishment before darkness consumed her.

She woke up choking and turning she spat and coughed up mouthful after mouthful of water. Pain laced her whole body and her lungs were on fire. She was on a simple stretch of beach and she struggled to her legs on the wet sand. Her clothes, her traditional gab, were plastered to her body and she felt chilled. She looked around and she recognized none of her surroundings, there were rocks and a wooden path lining the edge of the sand before it eroded into a city of tall square buildings and streets. If this was the heavens, then it looked very different to what she had thought.

Something on the upper half of her sight caught her attention, the blue landscape that was the backdrop of the buildings. She traced it back towards her until she had it tilt her head back. Then she turned and everywhere she looked in every direction the deep, endless blue was there. It was beautiful, depthless, and it made her feel so small because no matter how hard she tried she saw no end, no stopping of that distance as she stared upward into the heavens. There was only one answer: it was the sky.

She was amazed and disbelieving, the sky, the endless blue sky she had thought she would never see. But if that was the sky then this had to be Earth. How had she ended up on Earth when she had been in space?

The sudden sound of someone coughing violently made her jerk to her right, dropping into a fighting position. Some distance away from her down the side of the beach a man with long brown hair and purple clothes vomited the sea water just as she had done moments ago. After he could breathe again, he rolled to the side and lay collapsed on the sand.

She waited but he showed no other attempts at movement. Grudgingly, on weak, trembling knees she made her way over to him. He looked to be an older male of mid twenties, wavy brown hair sticking to his sides. His eyes were closed as he faced the sky but his face was square with a sharper chin, his shoulders were broad and he was would be much taller than her when he stood. His shirt was missing an arm, on the shoulder of the shirt just above the chest plate healthy skin showed through a ragged hole, as if someone had torn it.

She was almost upon before he snapped his eyes open at the sound of crunching sand. He sat up with a start and looked at her. She returned his gaze warily.

" Hello." She said.

He stared blankly at her then looked around his surroundings like a confused child. Then as his eyes widened, he started frantically patting himself down. When he was satisfied by the results, he sat, stunned, gaping to the world at large.

" I'm supposed to be dead." He said dazedly in English.

She laughed and replied in kind. " Yeah, me too." She fell back onto the sand; standing took too much energy from her. " Any idea how we're both alive."

He turned to her and furrowed his brow. " Do I know you?"

" No." She said tired. " I don't know you either, but here we are. And supposedly, we're both dead. But I don't think I am."

He shook his head slowly. " I don't think I am either, although I should be."

In the first few weeks Meilan had searched for ways to contact her Colony only to stare horrified and a bit numb at the news article that talked of her funeral. So she found proof she was supposed to be dead, instead of alive. She learned his name was Sanjouin Masato, a Japanese millionaire business man who owned his own company. He told her after a while to call him Nephrite instead, as it was his preferred name to the people he knew.

They moved in together because she had no where to go and although he had a place back in Japan, he constantly looked between lost and mystified. They searched together to find a possible reason to why they were both alive when they should have been died. One thing was they had both heard the voice, the one who made the wish and the light.

She, for all unknown purposes, was brought back to life but two weeks had elapsed since her death. He said he had died months ago, and he was brought back less then what he had been but more whole. She was confused but he did not elaborate. He said he had been working with an underground organization called the Negaverse but a fellow colleague had tried to eliminate him, and succeeded as he tried to protect a girl.

She told him briefly of her life and how she had died protecting the meadow her husband often read in. Nephrite had seemed so shock at the news she had a husband at the age of fifteen and she had laughed.

Nephrite had debated long and hard initially before selling his property and moving his belongings over to the States. He transferred all his accounts from the banks overseas and started a new business in jewelry; Nephrite had a very good eye for gems and crystals.

He paid for her necessities and financed her school in America. While she warily accepted it he explained that he had no family, no friends, and no one who knew him. She was in the same conditions except he had money, a lot of money, and that could help. He said to think of it as a good investment and to start treating him as an older brother because he would like to see her taken care of.

Since at least his idea of having her taken care of wasn't marrying her off to someone else and that he respected, encouraged, her independence and allowed her to argue him into the agreement that once she came out with a good career she would pay him back, she accepted. That had been six years ago and she and Nephrite had truly settled in to being comfortable with each other. They never looked on each other romantically, even if he was handsome and she had grown into a woman; she had promised herself to someone, even if he didn't know she was still alive, and those vows meant something to her. Honor and duty always had.

Nephrite occasionally went out with mature, beautiful, sophisticated women, but sometimes she caught him looking melancholy or gazing out the window sightlessly in the direction of Japan and whispered the girl's name, the girl he had died protecting: Naru.

It drove Nephrite insane when she spoke in Chinese because he did not understand a word of it but she was not going to give up her heritage. The temptation was always there, to buy a ticket back to space and visit her Colony, to see Wufei. But as much as he finally acknowledged her, he thought she was dead, and the ways of her Clan had been constricting to a girl of her independence. If he was happy and her friends and family had moved on, what right did she have to disrupt them? She didn't wish to tie him down to an unhappy marriage, she couldn't go back to the tightly ruled life she had before him, and so she never went back.

But the possibility was always there until one day watching the news; she had followed the mentions of the Gundam sightings avidly hungry for any news that he was alive, and possibly happier than when he was with her, and saw the broadcast that her Colony was destroyed. Demolished. Exploded into pieces of space scrap metal floating in the black.

After that she had truly accepted there was no way back, and while she had fallen in love with her husband in the line of honor and duty, it was not meant for them to be together. She immersed herself into her new life and went into graphic designing. Somewhere along the way Millennium Electronics picked her up and she had worked herself up the ladder until her current position of graphic designer to the Public Relations and Advertisement.

She stilled watched the news like a hawk for the Gundams until the war was over, and then the mentions of how the organization of the Preventers were made from the soldiers of the last war. She saw him once, in the back corner of the screen, talking on a radio, guarding the Vice Foreign Minister as she gave a speech. From then on she watched the news for movements from the Preventers Organization.

He looked happy. She hoped he was happy. He was content at the very least, without a weak, justice obsessed girl like her tying him down. She hoped he had time to read the books he liked and to practice the katana he carried.

Nephrite made no real remark on her viewing tendencies, just as she made no remark on how he watched the news for any information about the island nation of Japan. He often went to search online for current events, and was intensely interested in the fighters they called 'Sailor Scouts.' That nation underwent more national epidemics, evacuations, security lockdowns, and quarantines, than any other in the war times. Yet they were not involved in the Eve war at all.

Reading the happenings with Nephrite, she saw the classified information of monster sightings, weird invasions, terrorist bombings, that Japan never released to ESUN. Meilan never asked Nephrite how he got his sources and he never offered.

They had continued like that but as the war were over and peace time settled there were less and less reports on the major break through of the Preventers and the monsters from Japan lessened and stopped. Meilan and Nephrite both felt proud in a distant bittersweet way to the ones they had known and brought about the change.

Life went on until the day three weeks ago when Meilan had come home from work to see a cheerful, bright girl headed into the house of the famous reclusive Millennium Electronics' top computer security specialist. She had stared until the sunshine streamers turned in her direction and the smile from the petite face was brilliant.

" Would you like to come in?" Her new neighbor asked with a voice like chimes.

And Meilan knew. She knew that voice. It was light and love and warmth and miracles and second chances. It was the voice that made the wish six years ago.

**. : count your blessings : . **


	5. common ground

Thanks to _Falling Right Side-Up, Butterfly's Child, Nerf-or-Nothing, Sagishi, Bluejello, Rea54 and Sunshine Fia_ for reviewing.

Naru - Molly

Translations:  
Tsukino - of the Moon  
Usagi - Bunny

* * *

**Title:** Sand Beneath my Feet  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summery:** He saw her on the shore of an empty patch of beach. It's that simple and complicated. HiiroUsagi

* * *

Nephrite knew it was her the instant she stepped opened the door. She was taller, older, and wiser perhaps, but it was Sailor Moon. Her hair had grown longer but it was still in that ridiculous hair style, she was several inches taller but he still dwarfed her. Her eyes were the biggest change, they were bright and joyous but he saw depth and knowledge he hadn't before. And it was Sailor Moon in her civilian form standing in the door way of the house where he had come to pick Meilan up.

His heart stopped for several long moments and Sailor Moon's eyes were wide and staring, and neither had an answer for all the questions running in their minds. But then she smiled and invited him in. Meilan called out from the living room, asking about the wait, and the once Dark Kingdom General Nephrite moved stiffly into the house. Meilan smiled at him in welcome on the couch, motioned him to sit next to her, and Sailor Moon went to make another cup of tea.

And it was _Sailor Moon_ and she was in _America_.

She lived two doors down from where he had never thought to see her and Meilan had been talking to her since hours ago before he had finished his papers to come over, and for weeks now when he had been in Europe on a business trip. She was _there_ moving about the kitchen, pulling down a cup, rinsing the china, pouring a sweet smelling aroma mix and all he could do was take the saucer and cup when she offered it to him.

Meilan introduced the two of them; Sanjouin Masato and Tsukino Usagi. Nephrite didn't know if he wanted to laugh or not at the coincidence and at her name so adapt: of the moon. He sat quietly instead, murmuring indistinct replies as the girls talked and his internal tension winding tight. He sat quiet and expectant and fearful staring into the lukewarm liquid as Meilan went to the washroom and his grip on the handle was so tight the china was going to break. _Tsukino._ Sailor Moon. _Usagi._ Naru's best friend.

And after so long of convincing himself that there was nothing left for him back in Japan, after years of counseling his inner demons that he deserved this second chance, that he had been worthy enough to redeem because of one little naive girl he didn't need, and a countless number of nights staring into the stars wondering, wondering, just who was he trying to fool. He had told himself that he had no business stepping back on Japanese soil, no right to walk about the streets of Tokyo, no claim to wander the street of Juuban to find her smile, her laugh, her voice, her faith.

And yet here she was; Sailor Moon, protector and defender of justice; defender of the citizens and of _her_ once upon a time, from him, the dark general who lied to her from beginning to end. And the best friend who was there to pick up the pieces when he had broken her heart. He wanted to reach out and grab her by the shoulders and shake her, demand from her, shout at her, plead with her, for any news and answers.

_Is Naru okay? Was my sacrifice worth it? Did I hurt her? Is she happy? Has she moved on? Does she remember me? Does she dream of me? Is she still waiting?_

A million questions in his mind yet when he looked up he had the courage to ask none of them. Her eyes were deep and compassionate, understanding and wise. She simply smiled softly to let him know when he was ready to ask the questions, she had the answers. A desperate, uncontrolled feeling rushed through him, part bitterness, hate, fear, happiness, hope, and pain.

He felt a wave of self-loathing. He was weak, a coward. He couldn't even bring himself to ask after all this time of waiting and wanting answers.

The front door opened, the shuffles of someone coming in, and Hiiro Yui, the cold computer program designer moved silently into the room with deadly quiet. There was no way the younger man had not been a soldier or fighter of some kind. He moved too gracefully, too silent, actions unnaturally controlled; he moved like man used to danger.

But then so did Sailor Moon. Her chatter and smile distracted you from the whisper trend of her feet, her clumsy moments eclipsed the elegant shift of her body, her bright shining hair made you disbelieve she could streak through the night undetected. She was a miracle through and through, and more dangerous then Yui could ever be because they wouldn't believe it from her.

The younger man moved to sit on the couch next to the place of Sailor Moon and the sunshine woven hair twirled about her as she cheerfully got up to fix another cup of tea. Meilan came back and greeted Yui, they both worked in the same company, in different departments, but usually they never acknowledged each other. Once again introductions went around and as Nephrite watched carefully how Sailor Moon moved to sit down next to Yui, he felt a smile twitch. This was the woman-child who had disrupted all his plans, and by the reports over the years, taken the Negaverse, followed by other enemies. He felt proud of her; she had grown from the younger, clumsier, version in his mind. Power radiated off her now. She had been a worthy opponent.

He looked away to suddenly lock eyes with cold, dark blue. Nephrite felt a jolt of caution though his systems, Yui was threatening him or warning him off. But what could he possibly...then Sailor Moon sat down next to the brunette and the younger man put his arm possessively around her waist.

Meilan smiled in humor next to him and Nephrite blinked, barely stopping his eyebrows from shooting to the roof. When had this happened? What happened to Tuxudo Mask?

His astonishment must have showed because Sailor Moon smiled gently, placed a hand over Yui knee cap and said, " He knows, Nephrite."

Both Yui and Meilan stiffened. Yui hadn't known they known each other and Meilan hadn't introduced him as Nephrite.

" How..." Meilan trailed off.

" We've met." Sailor Moon replied.

Yui tightened his hold on the petite blonde and Nephrite almost laughed. And where was Tuxedo Mask now? What had happened after his death? Where are the other Sailor Scouts? What had happened to the Negaverse?

He opened his mouth. " How's Naru?" Was what came out instead of the million other questions he could have asked. His throat tightened.

" She's fine." Sailor Moon said, eyes tender. " She's happy."

He let out the breath he had been out and whispered, " Thank you."

" Naru?" Meilan picked up, interest perked. " The one who..."

" Nephrite used to be a Dark Kingdom General." Sailor Moon said.

Yui looked him over evaluating and Meilan echoed confused, " General? Weren't you just a business man?"

Nephrite smiled tightly. " How long has he known?" He asked Sailor Moon, referring to Yui.

" Yesterday." She answered.

He gave a chuckle. " Not long at all."

She hummed. " Most of it yesterday. He knew some before, just not all of it."

" Why tell him?" He asked quietly.

She leaned back into Yui, tucking her head on his shoulder. " He's my husband."

" HUSBAND?" He shouted eyes wide.

Meilan rolled her eyes. " Just because you're commitment phobic doesn't mean there's something wrong with marriage."

He turned to glare at her. " You shut up. Just because you got hitched at an obscene age doesn't mean you know anything. Because I don't see this Chang Wufei showing up anywhere, otherwise I'd have some words with him about abandoning his wife."

" Chang Wufei?" Yui questioned sharply. " From the L5 Colony?"

Meilan watched him and slowly nodded. Yui stared at her long and hard. Sailor Moon was now glancing from her husband to her friend.

" Chang Wufei, isn't that..." She stared.

" Yes." Yui cut her off curtly.

" You know him?" Meilan latched on, eyes bright.

Yui nodded but spoke no more. Nephrite caught Sailor Moon's eyes and smiled warily. " It seems that we all know each other." He said. " Why don't we just share our stories now, because all of us are going to end up hearing it one way or another."

Yui tilted his head.

**. : - : . **

Two mornings later Hiiro received the message from Chang Wufei in regards to a weird energy building in the North Pole. He stared expressionless, and considered what he would reply. He looked up to see Usagi and Meilan walking towards him, both girls sweaty and out of breath from the work out, but also cheery. The first five to ten minutes for Usagi first thing in the morning was always hard, but after the initial crankiness she was all energy and bounce.

" What you doing?" Usagi asked coming around the table to peer over his shoulder.

Meilan grabbed a towel and mopped up her sweat. She picked up a bottle of water and twisted the cap open. " Work calling you in?"

" In a way." He replied staring at the Chinese girl. " I just received a email from Wufei."

Meilan paused with the open bottle halfway to her lips. " Oh."

" What did he say?" Usagi questioned then moved his hand so she could click on the message link.

He gave her an irritated glare from the side but she ignored it, or didn't see it at all.

" Abnormal readings in the North Pole?" Usagi puzzled. " What kinds of readings? What type of energy build up? What's the source?"

" That's what he wants to know." Hiiro said dryly. " No one had made any type of definite conclusions. The only people there before were Merquise and me."

" And me." Usagi whispered. Meilan and Hiiro looked piercingly at her, Usagi smiled weakly. " You can't rule it out, especially in this circumstance. You've got a Sailor Scout and a Dark King, and their common ground at the North Pole where the Negaverse was stationed."

" Ex." Meilan said sharply. " Nephrite isn't a Dark General anymore and there haven't been youma for some time, you don't need to go back into the fight."

Usagi nodded but did not speak. Hiiro disliked the haunting shadows in her eyes.

" You were not the last ones there." He pointed out. " By our timeline your battle happened before Merquise and I fought in the artic, so the last ones there were Zechs and I."

Some tension drained from the blonde at those words, she smiled nervous with hope. " Maybe you're right."

" Are you going to reply?" Meilan asked.

" Hn. Maybe there are some things he needs to know." Prussian blue stared at her.

Brown eyes widened. " No. He-I no."

" He should be told you survived." Hiiro said monotonously.

Meilan snorted. " I didn't. They buried me, remember?"

" You're alive now." He replied resolute.

" And I like the way my life is." she retorted.

Usagi bit her lip. " Hiiro...Meilan..."

" He deserves to know," Hiiro said, " that you're waiting for him."

A beat. " Who says?" Meilan stuck her chin up indignantly. " I'm not waiting for him. Who would like that arrogant nerdy weakling? I...I'm certainly not waiting for him. He didn't believe in me or justice."

Hiiro arched a brow at the words. " He's changed."

Meilan rolled her eyes.

" He should know you're alive." Hiiro repeated evenly, his gaze flickering briefly to Usagi.

Meilan's eyes softened at that action, she understood he meant well. " Our marriage isn't like yours." She said calmly, telling herself that she only spoke the truth and the truth hurt less than lies. " It was arranged by our families, we were both forced into it. We often couldn't even tolerate each other. He would not appreciate the news that I'm still alive, and that he might need to honor a void promise and keep a loveless marriage."

Her tone was flat and by the end she couldn't stand to look at them. Usagi sat on the arm of Hiiro's chair, his hand around her waist, the two of them presenting a united front. She had never had that with WuFei. They never touched more than they had to and he never welcomed her intrusion into his private space.

" You don't think he might like to know his wife is alive?"

She shook her head. " He never loved me, and it wasn't until the end when he admitted that I was strong. He might have respected me, had I lived past that encounter." She smiled bitterly. " But I didn't. I was weak enough to die." She ended in a whisper. "I never got to tell him the meadow was beautiful."

Meilan was silent after that and Hiiro knew he could push no further that day. He sent back a customary reply and closed the browser. Three hours later Chang sent another message. Hiiro scanned the message then replied. Over the next few days he and Chang traded contact. Meilan was prickly on the subject of her husband and while she did not deny she was his wife, she did not believe he needed to know she survived. She was stubborn and Hiiro was no closer to convincing her than he had been in the beginning.

Another two days later Nephrite visited.

" Yui." He greeted calmly.

The ex-Dark General had treated Hiiro with a cool, detached, civilized manner ever since the explanation earlier that week. His gaze followed the computer specialist whenever they were in the same vicinity and the looks in his eyes were a mixture of intensity, trepidation, and evaluation. Nephrite was looking for something, but Hiiro wasn't going to bother asking.

" I came to speak with Usagi." The long haired brunette said.

The older man had acted deferential to Usagi ever since he had found out her identity as Princess Serenity.

" She and Meilan are out shopping." Hiiro replied and returned to working on his laptop.

" I'll wait." Nephrite leaned back onto the wall and silently watched Yui.

**. : our little secrets : . **


	6. rise, proud King

Thanks to _Lady Light, Kazumi Tachikawa, Butterfly's Child, Nerf-or-Nothing, Sagishi, Bluejello, and the Desert Fox_ for reviewing.

I've also got a request for Quatre/Dorothy so I'll see about getting that in later. I have no preconcieved pairings decided except the ones you've already seen so far. I've also been asked, and I will say this now that Sanctuary: Haven is still active, just put on hold for a bit while I find my inspiration again. I don't want to work on it or read others until I've got this story firmly established becasue I don't want to confuse the events in my head.

**Hiasobi AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

**Hiiro's Eye Color: which blue?**  
There's been some bit of question about this. I've been to offical Japanese fansites when **Gundam Wing** first came out and they actually list it as AQUAMARINE. But then you go to English fansites when it is being dubbed and they either said it was COLBALT or PRUSSIAN BLUE. Cobalt and Prussian blue are actually very similiar so one could almost use them interchangebly, but since I want to clear up any confusions, I will go back to change cobalt to Prussian blue because that seems to be what most people expect.

**Deal with Nephrite**  
Nephrite was killed by Ziosite when he was trying to protect Osaka Naru, Usagi's friend. He used Naru several times as bait to draw out the Sailor Scouts because she was attracted to his alias form. In the end she finds out he was a Dark Kingdom General when he protects her from Zoisite's youma, which was using Naru as bait to draw Nephrite out. When they were escaping the youma, Nephrite heavily injured, Naru said when they survived this they should go for a milkshake, like, you know, a _real date_ that this time he didn't set it up as a trap for the Sailor Scouts and that neither one is in danger of their lives. He reminds her he is a Dark Gerneral and she says she doesn't care bout that, she cares about _him_. And he feels somewhat guilty because this time he used her specifically because he had found out Sailor Moon's civilian identity as Usagi, her best friend, ans was once again, debating to use Naru as bait before Zoisite abducted her. He agrees to the date, but then the youma catches up with them and Neprhtie is fatally injured. As he dematerilizes in Naru's arms he apologizes for lying to her from beginning to the end.

**Meilan/Meiran**  
Meilan had also been spelled as Meiran but according to my sources the correct way is with the 'l' because 'Meiran' has no tranlation in chinese that makes sense, while 'Mei Lan' means beautiful orchid.

**Wufei/Wu Fei**  
Because everyone in the series is used to westernized one word names, everyone meshes his name to 'Wufei'. And Wufei deals with it because it's less trouble then correcting them every time. But in Meilan or Wufei's own POV, they will call him WuFei. 'Wu' means five and 'Fei' means to fly, but that's actually a horrible Chinese name cause Chinese parents would never put a number in their kid's name, it's just not done...but the creators are Japanese and they chose the names for numbers as Hiiro comes from "hitotsu" (which is why the spelling with 'i' is correct instead of 'e') or "one," Duo is obviously "two," Trowa is evolved from "trois" or "three," and Quatre is "four."

**Long MeiLan**  
Once again, she does NOT take WuFei's last name. Traditional Chinese customs state that women actually KEEP their last name to show their affliation to their parent's family. Also from the **Epizode Zero** it says that WuFei married **into** _MeiLan's_ family because MeiLan was the last heir of the Long name but she was female and could not carry it on. They arranged it so WuFei would marry her and they were supposed to have a son which would take the **Long** name. If anything, it's the other way around, Wufei would take MeiLan's last name. (The arrangement makes me wonder if WuFei is possibly a younger son because if he was the eldest then his family would want him to carry on the family name himself, but if he had an older brother, then it is mute point sort of. Unless, because Long is _not_ a common Chinese name and Chang is, it could be an honor to be chosen to help prolong it. Also if he was Eldest then his family would take a lot more interest in his affairs, but we never do see them appear.)

* * *

**Title:** Sand Beneath my Feet  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summery:** He saw her on the shore of an empty patch of beach. It's that simple and complicated. HiiroUsagi

* * *

A few days ago Nephrite had looked Yui over, wondering. He had never found out the identity of Tuxudo Mask. But no, Yui had the wrong build; he was too lean, and his muscles were too defined for what Nephrite remembered of Tuxudo Mask, his hair was also the wrong color. Unless tranformation spells disguised and changed the physical appearances, yet Sailor Moon still retained her likeness in civilian form. Yui felt sharper, colder, and more battle hardened then what Tuxedo Mask was. Yui was too dangerous.

And then Sailor Moon had shattered all his preconceived illusions with her slow, tilting melody as she explained to him about the war waged on the Negaverse after he had been gone, and the true identities of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. She never told him the civilian names of the other Scouts of the masked caper, but she had explained to him of the appearance of the Silver Imperiam Crystal, the Ginzuishou, and the discovery of the reincarnated Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion.

He had been stunned, shocked, bewildered, disorientated, speechless, disbelieving. Sailor Moon was Princess Serenity? Tuxedo Mask was Prince Endymion? He had been quiet for a long moment before it processed and then he laughed; slow, deep, full of self-mockery, loathing, and contempt.

"Who would have thought?" He wondered, and then other implications had sunk in. "They made you _fight_." His voice was angry and scornful. "They made you go to war, they _threw_ you into _battle_."

There had never been a Senshi of the Moon. She had no training; no teachers, no advisors, no _experience_ and she had been told to take up the fight with an army that had decimated _kingdoms_. The anger was fast and furious in rising: she had been a princess, trained for diplomacy, and a child too young to have used the Ginzuishou. Princess Serenity had always been causality, a civilian, and while the Negaverse might have hated her, hated what she represented, a privileged life in the peace, she was also innocence, and light, and hope. Even they had acknowledged it, had honored her for it. She was _pure_ and while they were dark, she should have never have had to be exposed to the ugliness of war, carnage, and blood. She had always been promised a quick painless death from the start.

But to take that innocence, that light, the last battalion of hope and the personification of love and peace and make her war, to fight, and to _blame_ her for their failures when she was to be protected and cherished and loved and revered - it made him _sick_. It make him _angry_, it had to him shaking with the force of emotions he could barely contain.

" We hadn't known." She had said softly smiling.

And that was an _excuse_. And there should have been no excuse. They took the most precious, most important of things, the one they should have protected, and placed her in the line of fire, water, rain, pain, lighting, ice, daggers, knives, claws, lasers, shards, swords-

She had reached out one hand to cover his shaking fist. "I don't regret it." She whispered. "Not all of it. I protected my loved ones. I protected the world. I served peace, love and justice."

Nephrite did not speak for he could not speak, if he opened his mouth he might have exploded with all the things churning inside him.

"Justice?" Meilan had repeated. "Do you really believe such a thing?" Brown eyes fell to the floor and her voice was quiet. "Does it truly exist?"

" Yes." Sailor Moon had replied. " But most of the time there is a price to be paid. And you have to choose: what is right or what is easy?"

" Justice is individual." Yui had said monotonously. " It'll exist if you believe it."

" The strength of our convictions can make things a reality." Sailor Moon's eyes stared down the table but her gaze was directed inwards, that was obvious from her soft and distracted tone. " A wish made in the last hopes could give you the world again."

A beat.

" On the subject of wishes..." Meilan began, looking at Nephrite but his profile was hard and he didn't gaze at her. " Six years ago...when I...died. I heard a voice, your voice, making a wish, for things to be _right_. There was a warm light and then I was alive again. Nephrite too."

Sailor Moon had stared at them but her silence spoke volumes. " I made that wish," she finally said, " as I was dying, after I defeated Metallica." Yui's hand had gripped hers tightly. " The Negaverse was destroyed, my Senshi were dead, I killed Endymion,"

Nephrite had jerked back. She'd said Endymion had been _defeated_, she hadn't said she _killed_ him, _by her own hand_.

" I was drained of all energy, falling from a shattering ice tower, and I made a wish. A wish for my Senshi to be alive, to be happy, for Endymion to be forgiven, for everyone in the world to be safe, for my friends and love, for all of us, to have a second chance. To be reborn as we should have been: happy, content, _without the burdens and responsibilities of our past lives,_ for things to be done _right._"

Small droplets of water, bright and shining, dripped from her eyes and down her cheek. She did not cry out and her silent tears hurt that much more. Yui wrapped his arms around her and she draped limply on his side.

" I wanted to be a normal girl again, for Naru to get her milkshake with you, for the stupid jerk to call me a meatball head again, for my friends to complain I was late."

Yui had turned her face to his chest and muffled her words. Her shoulders, so small to hold the weight of the world, shook.

" For everyone to get the chance they deserved, to wake up in my bed the next morning, to have my mother calling me down for breakfast, to see all my friends at school, for things to be _right_."

" And they are." Nephrite had whispered. " Thank you for the second chance."

But now days later he was back, leaning on the living room wall, arms crossed, watching Yui type on his computer. After an hour of silent watching and waiting, Nephrite stared at the front door.

" You're associate." Nephrite spoke breaking the stillness. " The one who contacted you about the energies."

Yui paused. Nephrite swallowed, wishing there was another way. The young girl, the Princess, had fought so hard for the peace and safety they had now. Had given up so much, sacrificed herself, so the world would have the opportunity to know peace, had given him the chance at living, and now he brought bad tidings.

" You might want to contact him." The Dark King said. " Might want to book tickets to travel to the Headquarters and check out the read outs yourself."

Yui turned to him, expression cool. " Why?"

Nephrite's jaw clenched, this was the hardest and easiest part. He had wanted to only have to say this once, but as time passed and the girls had yet to return, he thought maybe they could start the events in motions so the girls could be spared some of the work, so they would not need to worry over the trivial things after the news.

The Dark King turned his head from the direction of the front foyer to stare into the open doorway of the kitchen. The afternoon light shone in though the window plane and lit up the room in vibrant colors. Somehow Nephrite knew that the home had not been as vibrant or colorful until Usagi had moved in, maybe it hadn't been a home at all. Now he was darkening it, bringing the outside world, the ugliness of reality into a paradise.

The Dark King reached out an arm leisurely, palm flat, then directed his focus inward. He reached for that part of him that had been the core of all he had done for a millennium, only in the recent years that he had not had access to. And it came from his core, so familiar and dreadful in the ease it took him and the way it felt natural.

A simple 16oz clear glass cup beautifully etched with feathery wings circling the middle like a crown appeared on his hand in a quick swirl, teleporting from where it had been on the kitchen counter before.

" I'm getting my powers back."

* * *

At times WuFei found himself hating the subject of trying to communicate with his fellow pilot Hiiro Yui. Yui was very curt, blunt, and to the point, not wanting to waste words but some times he was too brisk with his replies. Hence:

_I remember no indications of any variances to be expected from the North Pole. _

Did not make WuFei very happy. It told him nothing except that Yui had not notice any visible signs of concern from his battle, and while that had been the reason he contacted him, WuFei could not fill a page report for the Preventers on a one line email. He needed details and Yui gave none, he hadn't even signed the reply.

He sent back: _We have received many unexpected energy readouts from the monitors. Some teams have been dispatched to the site but found nothing. Analysts have come to no conclusions. There might be a need to go to the Artic to thoroughly check the area. Chang._

Yui replied later that night. _I am not available to move from my position in the current situation._

WuFei lifted an eyebrow. All signs pointed to Yui living under the radar and working a desk job at the company. Unless Yui was doing an investigation or in the midst of a mission, he should be able to travel.

_The read outs are at the European Headquarters. You might want to come take a look. Chang._

The next day: _Is that where you are stationed?_

WuFei blinked, unable to discern how that might be of heavy importance. Une had granted all the Gundam Pilots a high security clearance so they could access enter any Preventers' offices world wide. So the issue was not of gaining access but of WuFei himself.

_Yes. Une would like a confirmation from you in person. Chang._

Again he received: _I am unavailable._

_The spikes in the energy graphs are getting larger, it is causing a concern with the upper brass. You might get called in. Chang._

There was no reply for several days and WuFei wondered if he should send another email to remind the ex Wing pilot, but remembering the replies sent before the Perfect Soldier might be on a mission. But what kind, and one who's orders? Then one afternoon he opened the email and read Yui's reply.

_I will be in contact soon._

WuFei stared, so finally Yui was coming in person.

_When should I expect you? Chang._

He waited for a reply.

* * *

The girls entered the house on a playful run, Meilan twisting the knob viciously and tumbling inside with a large bag on one elbow, laughing. Usagi came after her, another shopping bag on her elbow, throwing a piece of crinkly tissue paper at the Chinese girl.

" I can't believe you!" Usagi shrieked.

" You know it's true!" Meilan called out and kicked off her shoes before Usagi to run into the living room where the two men were before the younger girl could catch her.

She stopped by the couch and took the bag from her arm. Meilan looked up to see both men staring at the two of them and she blinked at the purple outfit Nephrite wore. The color was reminiscent of the tattered clothes she had meet him in on the beach, but the matching jacket with the cross flap was new to her.

Usagi entered after her and threw her shopping bag on the couch with Meilan's. " There's was nothing wrong with-" The super heroine took in the outfit of the Dark King and her smile and laughter disappeared. " No." She denied quietly.

" Princess." Nephrite greeted, eyes directed downwards.

Usagi swallowed and clasped her hands in front of her painfully. She had told Nephrite to call her by her citizen name instead of her Senshi alias or royal title, and after some initial awkwardness, he had succeeded. But now it was voiced to confirm a point.

Meilan looked back and forth between the stricken Usagi and tired Nephrite. Hiiro was silent, observing the exchange.

" You've felt it too." The General replied, voice soft.

" I've _known_ it." Usagi whispered, slowly closing her eyes. " Nothing in this life is truly unexpected and free of consequence. Meetings have a meaning, and time...there's always a place and time for a reason. A Dark King and a Senshi meeting after so many years in coincidence?"

" You said that before." Meilan remembered.

" The Negaverse is gone. Metallica is destroyed." Nephrite said fiercely.

" And yet there is undefined energy building in the artic, the place of the final battle between the rulers of two broken kingdoms." Her knuckles were white.

_Two broken rulers with only the shadows of glory and what they had lost to sustain them._ Usagi bit her lip hard.

Nephrite pushed off the wall and walked up to the reincarnated moon princess. Standing a few feet away he stopped, then bent on one knee, one arm cross over his chest. " Command me, your highness."

Usagi's eyes were so sad staring down at the form of her once adversary. Meilan and Hiiro had never seen someone so beautiful, regal, majestic, and heart broken as Usagi did at the moment. They could see the ghosts of an impossible kingdom behind the two and a long flowing gown on Usagi.

" Will you follow me, Dark King?" She asked.

" I am yours to command." He affirmed.

She bent and reached out to his shoulder. " Then stand, proud King. Be my friend and comrade. Be a Commander, a General. Never settle for being less than who you are."

Nephrite's breath caught in his throat. This, this was why millions and millions, generation after generation, kingdom after kingdom, had sworn allegiance to the line of Serenity. Because there was honor, pride, and worth in it.

" Thank you." He replied and slowly stood with her hands held daintily in his. He stared down at the little diminutive figure and wondered how she held such power, such large heart and soul in a tiny body.

Hiiro came up from behind the Dark King and took Usagi's fingers from his. " We have to go investigate."

Nephrite let his hands drop. " Yes, we should take a look at the readings your associate has. I think I know what they're going to look like, but I want to make sure. I'll show you a copy of what nega-energy readings looks like. Yui's booked us a to Europe flight in-"

" Three hours." Hiiro finished.

They gawked at him.

" What?" Nephrite asked.

Meilan was confused. " Europe?"

" That's where the Preventers looking after the case is stationed." Nephrite explained. "Why the hell did you book a flight for so soon?"

" You said to be expedite." Hiiro repeated.

" I meant you to schedule it within a week!" The older man growled at the blanked faced male.

" It'll take one hour to get to the airport." Hiiro said. " So there are two hours to pack."

Meilan and Usagi's eyes widened.

" I can't believe you!" the Chinese girl shouted before whirling around to grab her shopping bag and run out the door in a fury.

Usagi yanked her hands out of his and raced up the stairs to the bedroom. " You're so mean Hiiro!" She called from the second floor.

Hiiro blinked from his spot in the living room, not understanding what the situation was. He could get his carry on pack in five minutes.

Nephrite looked the younger man over critically. " You've never been in a relationship before Usagi, have you?"

**. : destiny is coming : . **


	7. he had had every chance and missed it

Thanks to _Falling Right Side-Up, Midnight Angel3, lightgazer888, Lady Light, Choas Babe, Butterfly's Child, Nerf-or-Nothing, IsisMoon, Sagishi, Bluejello, Sunshine Fia, and jojo_ for reviewing.

A lot of you enjoyed the Clueless!Hiiro moment, and as much as it is in there for humor, I also put it in to be true to character, because as much as Hiiro was supposed to be 'perfect' he is _not_ a conventional teenager with a regular background and many, many obvious things are unknown to him. And kudos to **Sunshine Fia** for catching onto the fact that while Usagi and the others are going on trip, her family is coming to see her XD (remember, back some 4 chapters ago).

I will be starting school this week so updates will slow down.

**Hiasobi AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

**Sailor Moon Verse**  
For those who might be remembering differently or is confused about some things in the SM universe, I'm going by a mesh of the manga and anime events. More from the manga though because I like it better. Such as the deal with Sailor Moon running Dark Endymion through with his sword in the Negaverse; in the anime she throws her tiara at him, weakens him, makes him remember, and then he dies while protecting her from Beryl; but in the manga she literally defeats him with his own blade and kills him. Another difference is the concept of Sailor Cosmos, while she appears in the manga, she is never shown in the anime.

**WuFei/MeiLan(Nataku)**  
Children Heir of the Dragon Clan living on the L5/A0206 Colony were required to marry at fourteen. MeiLan, the last heir to the Long (dragon) name, was arranged to marry WuFei to continue the line. WuFei (surprise!) was very different (and yet not) then the one we know from Gundam Wing. When they met MeiLan called him the 'scholar boy' because he wore glasses, read alot, a loner, arrogent, didn't believe in justice, and while he didn't show it he was very skilled in martial arts. MeiLan introduced herself as Nataku in the belief she was the warrior god personafied. Meilan was acknowledged as the strongest in the clan, being the Heir and all, but when she challenged him to a duel: he asked her why she fought, she answered for justice, and he stated that justice didn't exist; she lost to him. That hurt her pride because the little uptight arrogent bookworm didn't even like to fight, didn't believe in justice, and yet he beat _her_ the strongest of the Clan. _And_ she was stuck with him for life (Gah! I feel your pain!). He continually calls he weak until when the Alliance attacks the Colony, MeiLan goes to fight in a modified mobile suit, and he goes out in the incomplete ShenLong to go after her, and at the end of the battle she is fatally injured. After the fight he finally tells her he will call her Nataku from then on. The ending scene can be read from Chapter 4; when WuFei finally acknowledges her strength right before she dies. After her death he swears to prove that her justice exists and names his Gundam 'Nataku' because his wife died defending it and her spirit resides in the Gundam.

Translations  
Bachan - a suffix meaning 'aunt' but could be used or middle aged women. Usually Japanese women hate to admit they're old and ask others to call them 'nee-chan' which tranlsates to 'sister' but is also used to address woman older than you. Fiona doesn't freak out because she's westernized by living in the states, and she proud of her relation to her often absent neice.  
Arigouto - thank you

* * *

**Title:** Sand Beneath my Feet  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summery:** He saw her on the shore of an empty patch of beach. It's that simple and complicated. HiiroUsagi

* * *

Kenji's plane landed in the early morning and Fiona met them at the airport as planned. The flight had been long with a few babies on board crying and making a fuss at the air pressure. The food had been tolerable but the seats cramped, and the family hadn't been able to fall sleep, except Shingo for a few hours, but now the teenage boy had a crink in his neck. Customs took hours and Ikuko was wavering on her feet. When Fiona walked over to greet them the older sister hugged the young woman tiredly.

" I need sleep desperately." Ikuko said. " I'm so jet lagged."

" Bad flight?"

" The worst." Shingo grumbled, wincing and stretching his neck. " Crying babies, bad food, long washroom line, uncomfortable seats."

Kenji held onto their luggage and he couldn't summon the strength to verbally fight with his sister-in-law. " If we could please go and get some rest before we do anything else?"

Fiona cocked an eyebrow at him but took pity at his rumpled state. " Car's this way. You can throw the luggage in the trunk. I borrowed a friend's minivan."

" That's great." Ikuko said relieved.

" Come on, let's go." Shingo grumbled. " I'm going to fall over right here if we don't get moving soon."

Kenji shook his head. " Be polite Shingo." He said warily.

" The kid's just tired." Fiona teased, ruffling his brown locks and Shingo protested. She laughed. " Ok, let's go."

They arrived at her house in the afternoon and leaving the luggage in the hallway for now, the exhausted Tsukino members crawled into the beds. Luckily Fiona had done all the housework the day before and there were fresh sheets on the beds. The jet-lagged threesome fell asleep instantly.

Later that day in the early evening as the sun was starting to set, the sky a brilliant mixture of purple, red, and orange, Fiona called her niece. The parents and Shingo would probably sleep through the night and after some food tomorrow, they would want to see Usagi. When there was no answer on the home phone she called Hiiro's cell.

After the third ring right before it went to voicemail the call was picked up. " Hello?" Usagi's voice asked.

" Usagi." Fiona greeted warmly.

" Fiona-bachan." Usagi identified.

" I have some news." She told her niece.

" Did something happen?" Usagi asked worried.

" Well," she bit her lip, " your family is here." She could hear her niece blinking over the line. " They flew over and landed today. They want to see you soon, maybe visit tomorrow."

" Uh, um." Usagi laughed nervously. " About that..."

" I couldn't convince them not to come." Fiona said dryly. " They wouldn't believe me that you were old enough to make your own decisions. I didn't tell them about your marriage though."

" Oh, arigouto Fiona-bachan." Her niece said relieved but still her voice was tinged with nervousness and worry. " The thing is, I'm at the airport right now. I'm going to Europe with some of my...coworkers. I don't know when I'll be back."

Fiona blinked. " Oh well, can't be helped. It's not your fault. You family did arrived unannounced. If you have a work trip it's not your fault."

" A work trip..." Usagi whispered. " Thank you, Fiona-bachan. Ah, my flight's being called. Take care."

" Take care." Fiona repeated and hung up.

Kenji wasn't going to like this but Fiona shrugged. It had been them who hadn't wanted Usagi to be notified, Ikuko wanting to surprise her daughter, and Kenji didn't want to give the girl time to make excuses.

Work was work after all.

* * *

Eight hours later and there was still no reply from Yui. Looking up from the reports WuFei had lost track of time from, he saw the sky outside was dark. Night had settled over Europe and checking his account, Yui had not mailed him any details. He closed the browser and leaned back on his chair. His neck was sore from working so long and his eyes were strained. He had pushed his glasses up over his head some hours ago and forgot to pull them back down as he had opened another folder.

He got up from his seat and walked out of his office, heading towards the staff room for a cup of coffee. Various offices were also lit as other Preventers stayed late to finish reports or working a night shift. Turning the corner he was almost in the staff room before the soft sound of an off beat foot step behind him alerted he was being followed. He maintained his brisk pace and entered the room but four steps in his senses signaled of incoming attack and he ducked the fist, lashing a leg backwards to trip the opponent.

The attacker jumped and WuFei spun with his leg out in a round house kick until he faced his attacker. A blur of black, white, and brown as his opponent cart wheeled backwards and he leaned away from the boot heel, barely missing his nose. He jumped back and slid into a fighting position. The other stood legs shoulder width apart and upper body relaxed, but his air suggesting he would be quick to respond.

The man wore a pair of fitted black trousers; white t-shirt exposing muscular arms, wild wind swept hair, and calculating blue eyes. WuFei knew his man.

" Yui!" He barked, relaxing his stance. " What the hell are you doing here?"

The other man was impassive. " I told you I would be in contact."

WuFei shot him a dry look and walked over to the coffee maker. Grabbing his cup set on the counter next to the machine, he filled it nearly to the top with the dark brew.

" I was expecting you in a few days, possibly tomorrow." He poured cream and milk into the coffee. " I was waiting for your reply." One spoonful of sugar then used the same spoon to stir. " It's barely been eight hours since you contacted me." He sipped the drink and watched the stoic man over the rim.

" I want to take a look at the readings." Yui was blunt and offered no other explanation.

WuFei nodded and led the way back to his office. Yui fell in step with him by his side.

" There has been no changes other than that the energy is spiking decimal points higher." The Chinese man said opening his door. " But steady decimal increases and they don't seem to be abating any time soon."

Yui grunted.

WuFei set his cup down on the toaster pulled a folder from a stack of them. He wordlessly handed it to Yui and sat down. Yui took it from him and flipped through the charts. Deep blue scanned the pages carefully before moving on to the next page. When he was done he closed the folder and handed it back to WuFei.

WuFei took the folder back. " What do you think?"

Yui shrugged.

He reached for his cup of coffee." The analysts said they never saw such patterns before and even with several teams cross referencing various nation databases, there has been no match."

" Anything close?"

" A few." He took a drink of his coffee. " The closest one we have is from a Japanese collection, but the government claims no ownership. The data was patented to a research laboratory in afflation to Mugen Infinity Academy, but there was a terrorist bombing before the data was published."

Yui's eyes flashed. " Mugen Infinity Academy."

"We can't get a hold of the scientists and none of the administration claims to know anything about it." WuFei finished disgruntled. " The data was not exact but it was fairly close. What about you, do you have an idea what it is?"

Yui grunted. " Hn. There's nothing you can do about it."

WuFei arched a brow. " Do you know what it is?"

Yui turned and walked towards the door. WuFei slammed his cup down and pushed off the chair. " Yui!"

Yui paused. " I'm going to gather some information."

" Do you have _anything_ to tell me?" WuFei demanded.

Yui turned and crossed his arms, staring at him in silence. WuFei matched him for long, frustrating moments before he made an agitated sound and slumped back in his chair. Yui would not talk until he was ready. He opened the folder again as he heard the stoic man open the door.

" You're married." Yui said curtly and closed the door.

WuFei looked up abruptly to see the shadow of Yui's form through the foggy glass in the upper half of the door move out of view. Black eyes were hard and his mind raced to wonder how Yui had found out of his early marriage. The records were lost, as were much other information of its citizens, when Master Long had detonated his home colony, A0206.

Stubby fingernails bit into calloused hands as WuFei remembered MeiLan, the weak man he had been, how he had never appreciated her when she was alive, and now all the women he met lived in her shadow.

_WuFei! You call yourself a man? I thought that, after becoming my partner, you'd change a little._

He'd changed. He changed after meeting her, being her partner, living with her. It was her death that had changed him the most and she would never know. He would never hear her voice, never see her practice her forms, never suffer another lecture, watch her stride through the streets proud, tilt her chin up in stubbornness, see her brown eyes flash with her convictions; never have her with him again. She had challenged him, argued with him, pushed him, defied him, and dared him to become a man worthy of her. She made him a better man, a stronger man; she made a believer out of him and she would never know because he had had every chance and missed it.

Obsidian eyes closed. " Nataku..."

* * *

Hiiro walked down the street three blocks away from the European Preventer Headquarters and turned left, continued walking until he got to fairly empty parking lot and headed towards the dark blue car. He inserted the key and got in the driver seat.

Usagi turned her head towards him from her spot in the passenger seat. " How did it go?" She asked sleepily.

" It matched the nega-energy charts." He said to the glaring Nephrite in the back seat with Meilan.

They had come straight from the airport after the plane landed. When they obtained the vehicle Nephrite had a one-sided argument with Hiiro about who was driving, which Hiiro had won. Meilan had her head slumped over, blurry eyed and tired. Hiiro had yet to tell her that Wufei was stationed at the office.

Everyone had slept on the flight, Hiiro having obtained First Class tickets for them and knowing that there would be work to be done when they arrived. They had been still dozy while he went to meet with Wufei, but at his words they all became alert.

Hiiro pulled out of the parking lot and merged with the traffic. " The pattern was the same, but the spikes were not as high."

" Good." Nephrite said. He had showed Yui the energy spike pattern of when the Negaverse had been active, if the spikes were smaller then this meant they had time. " What was the difference?"

" Half height, but gaining." Hiiro replied. " It's increased from quarter to half in the past month. Before that analysts speculate it had been steady at a low point but showed no large accumulation for 4 years."

" Strange." Nephrite said as they pulled up to a restaurant. " Okay, we'll eat, then talk more later on a full stomach."

" Great!" Usagi agreed, her stomach choosing that moment to rumble. She flushed heatedly.

Meilan snickered. " Don't worry, we'll get you extra-large..." she let her words trail off tauntingly.

" Meilan-chan!" Usagi cried. " Don't you dare finish that!"

Hiiro and Nephrite got out of the chair, a smile tugging at Hiiro's lips and Nephrite shaking his head in amusement.

" Girls." The Dark King said. " Let's go."

As Usagi got out of the car mumbling Hiiro reached out a hand for her to take. She looked up at him and beamed, lacing her fingers with his. Mamoru had always been embarrassed about her inclination to show her affection in public, so she had curbed it for him, but Hiiro never minded and often initiated it when she seemed hesitant. She walked next to her husband and settled her head on his shoulder.

Behind them Nephrite and Meilan watched in indulgence of the two: happy for them and a bit wistful. They had a chance at their fairytales, but it hadn't meant to be. Nephrite wondered if he had been honest and he had lived past that awful battle, if he and Naru would have turned out like them. Meilan smiled sadly; WuFei had never held her hand, and would have never let her so close to him in public. The only time she had been that close to him was when he had carried her to the field after the attack on the colony, when she had been dying.

Over dinner they speculated quietly in their corner seats at the back of the room. They knew for sure that the Negaverse was involved somehow; maybe someone was triggering remnants in the artic, maybe a stray youma or two survived. Maybe some other enemy had found the left over energy wand and was harnessing it.

" It could be the left over energy is reacting to the negative atmosphere of the world." Nephrite suggested.

They stared at him. " What do you mean?"

The Dark General stared back. " Why do you think the Negaverse attacked during AC195? Why do you think we kept sending youma to Japan only?"

Usagi blinked. " I always wondered about that. The Senshi were only stationed in Japan, if you attacked anywhere else in the world we wouldn't have been able to respond as quickly or effective."

Nephrite made a noise in his throat. " We didn't need to attack any where else in the world. Japan was the only stronghold; it was the only place that needed to fall."

Hiiro placed his fork down. " What do you mean?"

" The Negaverse isn't physical, or isn't purely physical in the way Earthen people and environment is. We _manifest_ things physically so they can interact with the people but the Negaverse runs off nega-energy, and it is spiritual. The rest of you people, the nations, the Alliance, the Colonies were so wrapped up in your problems, you're dissatisfaction and greed. You gave off negative energy, which fed the Negaverse."

The three of them listened to him attentively. Hiiro with a hard look, Meilan wide-eyed, and Usagi carefully focused.

" Japan was the only country which did not involve itself in the war, it had hope and faith and it shone with the light of positive energy because the Senshi were there and the people _believed_ in them, believed that they would be protected and that there would be peace and hope. Japan was the one brightest place where the people were not absorbed in grim matters and fought back at the Negaverse expansion. The rest of you people?"

He shrugged dismissively at the thought of the other nations. " You were like cattle. You were a source that fed our powers and what reason would we have to kill you off or stop the events in motion so soon? We would have taken over eventually, and it would have been so easy. Bullets and lasers did nothing much to us after all. You had no way of fighting back. The more you fought, the more negative energy you gave off, the more powerful the Negaverse became."

Usagi swallowed. " The war...when Metallica..."

" I'm sure if you match up all possible events, you'll find a defining moment happened after or possibly during when you finished off the Negaverse and Metallica." Nephrite said softly. " Also for all the other enemies you've fought. The Eve war lasted possibly for all of one year. But then a year after that there was a rebellion?"

" The Romafeller." Hiiro said stiffly.

Nephrite inclined his head. " You would have been 16 then."

Usagi froze. 16 years-old, a defining battle, where all the negative energy of all her adversaries had languished in years and gathered together to summon a great enemy: _Chaos_. " I see." She whispered.

" The world effects us." Nephrite explained. " Japan might have seemed isolated from the other nations in the war, but you, you were fighting the true war. The world and the colonies could have gone down in flames and Japan and other survivors would still be there because you defeated the Negaverse. The Alliance or the Colonies could have won gloriously and they would have descended into hell because there was no little girl, no princess forced into battle to save them all."

" Stop it!" Meilan snarled at him, her eyes gazing at the trembling form of her friend.

Usagi had her thin arms wrapped her body, tucking herself into Hiiro's side, and her small shoulders shaking impeccably. Her blue eyes were bright and haunted. Hiiro had his arms wrapped around her and held her in comfort. His gaze was fierce and angry, not at her, but at the world in large and at himself.

_Why? Why do you go to such lengths to defy me?! You dream of a beautiful future but you are sure to eventually realize the world is already ugly and filthy!_ Metallica had shouted at her in the final confrontation.

" I'm sorry, Princess." Nephrite apologized.

" No, don't." Usagi protested. " I knew, or should have known." Hiiro's arms tightened. " In the end, the fight was intergalactic after all."

_Chaos. Her Senshi. The Star Senshi. Her mother-queen. Standing in front of the Cordon of Stars. Deciding, debating: destroy the Cordon, destroy Chaos, destroy all the star seeds lost. Lost, lonely, powerless, alone, always alone at the end, and falling into the dark endless black because she just wants it to_ end.

She shivered and hugged Hiiro. Her husband stroked her hair and her friends gazed uncomfortably around.

" That's enough." Hiiro said harshly. " Finish your meal."

Nephrite did not argue. Meilan looked at her friend in concern.

" Hey Usagi." The Chinese girl said trying to take the other girl's mind of things. " Wonder if they have dessert?"

Usagi held Hiiro for another moment before letting go and turning to Meilan, blinking bright eyes that lost some of its unnatural shininess. " You think they have cake?"

Hiiro smirked and produced the dessert menu, pulling it off the stand at the end of the table. " Several kinds."

**. : part of my world : . **


	8. It's Sailor Moon

Thanks to _SereStar, woldprincess09, the Desert Fox, Lady Light, Choas Babe, Nerf-or-Nothing, Silver Moonlight-81, Sagishi, Bluejello, Sunshine Fia, and Christina_ for reviewing.

**Hiasobi AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

**Sailor Moon /Gundam Wing Verse**  
Yay for **Nerf-or-Nothing!** Another manga fan! (dub _killed_ me, I never watched dub). I read/watched the Sailor Moon manga and anime soem time ago and hopefully I have most things correct but don't expect everything. Also I've only read Episode Zero, and watched the beginning and movie of Gundam Wing; I always meant to watch the rest but I ran out of time. So you can either vote that I watch the series first, wait the amount of time I need to see it, before I get back to updating so I can get my canon facts right, or deal with my AUness.

**Chang WuFei**  
Your guess is as good as mine to why he kept his last name. But seeing how WuFei is sort of the stand in 'wife' position here, wives kept their last name to show their relation to the parent's family, so WuFei could be keeping his in the same manner to show affliation to his family. It could also be his pride as a male couldn't let him degrade himself and change it. Also in addressing Chinese names, sometimes children of a generation are named with one character that is the same in all the children of that generation. For example my cousins: Mei Lan (YES! She is _acutally_ named that; it's actually a very popular Chinese name for a girl), Yo Lan, and Fung Lan; they all share the 'Lan' character in their name.

**Dark King/Dark General/Dark Kingdom General**  
As far as I know, the three titles all apply to the Four Dark Kingdom Generals Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite, and Kunzite(Malachite). I've seen them addressed as all of the three titles above and I believe it is because of the way they are referred to in Japanese and how it translates into English. So just know they mean the same people when they are mentioned.

Translations  
Kaasan - Mommy  
Hai - Yes  
Hitotsu - One  
Ginzuishou - Silver Crystal

* * *

**Title:** Sand Beneath my Feet  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summery:** He saw her on the shore of an empty patch of beach. It's that simple and complicated. HiiroUsagi

* * *

After dinner, and copious slices of cake, they exited the restaurant in better humor. Usagi laughed as they walked down the street.

" It reminded me of the Crown Arcade." She told them.

" Oh?" Meilan asked. " How?"

" It's where we sat and discussed Senshi business. Between cake, boys, and how cute Motoki was." She replied cheekily.

" Hn." Hiiro said.

" Ah, yes." Nephrite replied. " I believe Naru..." His throat tightened, he hadn't even known what he was going to say, but now it was out in the open he had to finish. " She liked that place too. It served good milkshakes?"

Usagi looked at him tenderly. " The best."

He smiled and it wasn't as stiff as he thought it would be.

" What do we do now?" Meilan asked.

" We need to go check out the site in the North Pole." Hiiro said. " The energy build up is increasing and the Preventers are going to send their men in soon."

" How soon?" Nephrite questioned.

" In a few days."

" That doesn't give us much time." Meilan bit her lip. " We need to get there and have time to investigate. But they could be there tomorrow for all we know. So when should we plan to go?"

" How about now?" Usagi asked.

They turned to stare at her.

She smiled nervously at their expressions. " Well, I'm stronger than when I went there before and we spent a lot of energy because we didn't know where to go. With Nephrite to pinpoint the location and with his powers returning, we could teleport there tonight. Now. Whenever." She gave a wobbling laugh.

" What? That's-"

" Fine." Hiiro cut Meilan off. " The sooner we get there the better. We need to scout out the site and have time to go back and make informative conclusions."

" Yui's right." Nephrite agreed. " If you won't find it too draining Princess, I could teleport us to my old chambers, they were 7 levels underground and if any structures survived, it would probably be them."

Usagi nodded. " Right." Then looked around the empty street. " Come on." She dragged Hiiro into a dark alley way and the other's followed.

" Out of sight, great." Meilan commented. " So how are we going to do this?"

Nephrite closed his eyes, focused, and _pulled_ from his core like he had done so many times years ago. His jeans, shirt, and wind jacket disappeared with a swirl of black mist to be replaced with the purple Dark King outfit.

Usagi pulled her elaborate broach from her pocket to pin it on the bottom of the v of her white v-neck shirt. She stepped away from the other three, raised her hand across her chest, the paused. She blinked then with a mischievous smile at Nephrite she raised her arm and called out.

" Moon Prism Power - Make Up!"

They watched astounded as she rose into the air and became a figure of incandescent colors on a radiant background. The light was luminous but they concentrated hard on the form of Usagi. Her broach glowed before transparent red ribbons materialized from the gold ornament as the origin; they encased her upper body before settling then with a flash became the upper part of her Sailor suit: white bodice, blue neck flap, red chest bow with the broach in the middle. Her luminous figure raised her arms and crossed them at the wrist over her head; red transparent ribbons also encased them until with a flash they were white elbow gloves. Then the same ribbons flared out from the end of the bodice and around her legs to form red knee length boots and a blue skirt with a red bow on the back. Her form was no longer incandescent and she arched her back, a light shining from the centre of her forehead and her tiara and hair ornaments came into existence. She raised an arm up to her head and one to the back of her waist, and when she stopped moving, a bright crescent moon glowed behind her as she stood in mid air before she dropped back to the ground

They all gawked at her. She raised a hand to her chest and looked down at the outfit nostalgic. The only difference was the elaborate gold Eternal broach instead of the round one she had before. " This was my first Senshi transformation form." She looked up and blinked at their stunned gazes. She smiled and winked at them. " Pretty cool eh?"

Meilan picked her jaw up from the ground. " That...was..."

" Magic?" Nephrite interrupted sardonically. " Faith? Hope? Everything Good in the world? Yeah. It's Sailor Moon."

Sailor Moon flushed and the Dark General chuckled.

" Let's go." Hiiro said.

" Right. Everyone, hold hands." Sailor Moon told them.

Meilan blinked. " Hold hands?"

" Yes. So I can transfer my power easier and carry you with me, and also that we won't get separated." Usagi explained, grabbing hold of Hiiro's hand.

Hiiro took hold of Meilan's, Meilan took Nephrite's, and Nephrite completed the circle with Sailor Moon. The Pretty Solider Sailor Moon breathed deeply.

" Ok." She said. " Nephrite, concentrate on the location, Meilan and Hiiro, concentrate on staying with us." She closed her eyes and breathed softly in the silence. A car drove by the alley, foot steps sounded two blocks down, a child laughed happily in an apartment, and she snapped her eyes open with the picture of a deep cavern, a room she's never known before but the walls shaped were from rock and she knew it was where Nephrite wished for them to go. " Sailor Moon Teleport!"

A clear bubble form around the group and they flickered once, twice, and were gone from the alley. Continents away four figures holding hands appeared flying over a land of ice and snow at an incredible speed. Meilan and Hiiro tightened their grip as they flew by mountains, snow hills, flat planes, frozen waters, craters, and while it was cold outside, inside the bubble they felt no discomfort in jeans and a long sleeve shirt. Suddenly they were coming past a mountain range but they were not dodging the structure.

" Usagi? Usagi! Mountain!" Meilan cried as they came closer.

" I know." Usagi replied intensely and the tone made the other girl pause in her panic.

They stopped abruptly right before the mountain, floating over a deep crater. Usagi and Nephrite looked down both pensive. The other two looked down as well but saw nothing but snow covered ground.

" The Headquarters." Nephrite whispered softly.

Before they could ask any questions the bubble descended, dropping out of the sky into the crater and before Meilan could scream they passed through the ground like mist and kept falling down, down through rocks, soil, ice, until suddenly they slowed and stopped, feet touching a hard surface of smooth rock. The bubble dissipated and they were in the room Usagi had seen except there was dust and the furniture was tattered.

Nephrite moved achingly slow over to chair, looked at the dust covering the seat and with a wave of his hand, half of the room was immaculate again. He stared silently at the wall.

" Nephrite?" Sailor Moon asked.

" I only planned to clean the chair." He confided. " It seems the power is more reactive here."

Suddenly they felt it, the air around then was filled with a presence. Meilan huddled closer to Usagi and Hiiro at the malicious tinged energy and Hiiro was on full alert. Usagi knew the energy, knew the feel of it. She curled her fists.

_Happiness. Cheer. Welcome! A_ General!_ Home! _

Nephrite pushed the connection down and ignoring the slight disappointed feeling the awareness gave, it let itself thrum in the back of his head gently.

"It's the nega-energy." He said to his companions.

" What?"

Before he could reply objects came whizzing into the room from a doorway in the back of the room, shrouded in half darkness. They were small, tiny, floating items: round, square, sphere, spiked and smooth. They glowed with gold and white light and buzzed around him, flew about the room, then came back to encircle him.

" These are still here?" He said half in awe.

" What are they?" Meilan demanded as she ducked and dodged one sphere which had turned its path in mid air and flew too low. She missed the oblong one and it crashed into her side. She yelped and other floating items came to whirl around her like they did Nephrite.

" My collection of astronomy items." He explained. " Star gazing was my hobby."

" Being evil needs a hobby?" She asked incredulous and watched as Hiiro jumped over two racing lights.

" You try working for a petty, narcissist queen prone to jealousy, long grudges, apocalyptic fits, and you tell me _you_ don't need a hobby to keep you sane."

She arched a brow.

Nephrite sighed. " Don't worry, they're not dangerous."

A bobbing light whizzed past their head and slammed straight into a rock way. They all fell to the floor as a mini explosion shook the room. The other three turned to look at him.

" Mostly. Mostly harmless." He corrected.

The other items huddled close to him and refused to float more than three feet away even when he pushed them. He glared at the humming lights which moved about him like excited children.

" Why do they act like this?" Yui asked, one hand holding onto a struggling box.

" They're magical items. They haven't felt my presence for years, have been put aside so that long, and now they're welcoming me back."

" They're alive?" Meilan asked wide-eyed.

" Not alive. They're magical objects, and magic is about intent. And with enough magic and intent, objects gain an...awareness. They're not conscious like you or me, but they are aware." Nephrite elaborated as he walked across the room. He stared at the remaining dusty half and waved his hand. The power came fast and easy, eager, to be put to use by one of skill and familiarity.

Unexpectedly from the corridor outside the double ornament door, approaching footsteps sounded, small and hurried. The four tensed in response, it seemed that there was some one else there as well, and waited.

They heard it before they saw the child. " -san. Kaa-san. Kaa-san, kaa-san, kaa-san, kaa-san!"

The heavy doors swung open and they watched a child of three to four run through: a pair of black pants, white t-shirt, tiny running shoes on his feet, long white-gold hair flew behind, small thin arms extended out in front, a brilliant smile on his pixie face, and shining golden yellow eyes.

"Kaa-san, kaa-san!" He ran straight for Usagi and crashed into her legs, wrapping the childish arms around her knee. "Kaa-san! Okaa-san!"

They were all astonished. Sailor Moon looked down at the deliriously blissful child in confusion. He snuggled his soft cheek on her leg and had the widest grin possible on his miniature face.

" Uh..." Meilan said eloquently.

Nephrite look at Sailor Moon seriously but his eyes twinkled. " Some thing you want you tell us?"

Meilan smacked him upside the head, he winced. Hiiro ignored the two and bent down in front of the little boy. Deep Prussian blue gazed into curious golden yellow.

The little boy lit up. "Hitotsu!" He reached out one tiny hand to touch Hiiro's face. " Hitotsu! Hitotsu!"

" What is he saying?" Meilan asked.

" He called Sailor Moon his mother," Nephrite started and Meilan shot him a dark look. She had known that as Usagi called her mother by that when Tsukino Ikuko called, " and he's calling Hiiro 'one'."

" One?" Meilan asked.

" One." Nephrite confirmed.

Hiiro's eyes were wide as the boy held onto Usagi leg with one hand and patted his face with the other. " Who are you?" He rasped.

The little boy laughed and patted Hiiro's lips. " Zero! Zero!"

Sailor Moon reached down to smooth the waist length hair. " You're name is Zero?"

The boy held still at the caress and his face was blissful. " Hai, kaa-san!"

" So he can speak." Nephrite mused. " I wonder how large his vocabulary is?"

Zero shot him an outraged look from his place between Hiiro and Usagi. " Zero is smart! Zero knows!"

" He can understand you." Meilan observed and bent down to speak with the child. " Can you understand everything we say?"

Zero retreated to stand behind Sailor Moon's leg shyly but not without grabbing hold of a tiny fistful of Hiiro's shirt, pulling him along. The boy nodded but did not speak. Hiiro reached out and untangled his shirt from the child's hand and Zero let go pouting.

" How old are you?" Hiiro questioned. " How long have you been here?"

Zero cocked his head and held up four fingers with the hand not holding onto Usagi's leg.

" Four years old? And you've been here the whole time?" Nephrite asked.

Zero nodded and settled into his place next to Usagi. The little boy only reached her upper thigh in height, and seeing as how Usagi was barely 5 feet, he was tiny.

" I wonder what he is?" Neprhite narrowed his eyes.

Meilan blinked and turned to him. " What?"

" He's been living in the Negaverse for four years, even if it is decimated. He can't be human. A normal human being in the presence of nega-energy, no matter how small, over a long exposure will be either: drained, driven insane, or consumed by their desires. The boy is none of those."

Meilan went, " oh," and then whirled on him furious. " And you _brought_ me and Hiiro here? Knowing what would happen to us?!"

Nephrite stepped back. " Would you have agreed to be left behind?" The look she gave him was grudging. " Besides, you and Yui aren't normal humans. You've been brought back to life, you were touched by other powers, and your aura shows it. It protects you. Yui," he tilted his head in acknowledgment of the other man, " is under the protection of Sailor Moon and the Ginzuishou. The power shimmers off him."

The little boy slid over to Hiiro once more, watching the other two carefully. He maintained contact for as long as possible with Usagi with one arm outstretched until he was directly in front of the kneeling brunette. Then the white-blonde boy threw himself into the impassive man's arm.

" Hitotsu! Hitotsu!" He cried laughingly, wrapping chubby hands around the muscular man's neck and climbing up to his chest. " Up! Up!"

Hiiro hesitantly wrapped his arms around Zero and stood. Usagi was beaming at him, MeiLan's gaze was tender, and Nephrite was snickering. Hiiro gave the other man a hard look then focused on the child once more as it wiggled in his hold and tucked his head on his collar bone.

" He's very attached to Usagi and you." MeiLan remarked as Zero curiously ruffled his hands through Hiiro's hair, making it more spiky than usual.

" Kawaii!" Sailor Moon giggled and Hiiro shot her a glare, repressing the urge to blush. Zero was having the time of his life comparing his pale strands with Hiiro's dark ones.

" At least he's not still teething." Nephrite teased.

Hiiro and Zero shot him matching glares.

" Now that's just freaky." He muttered.

MeiLan looked around the room, flitting from corner to corner, lifting up an old relic, thumbing through old start charts, peering at bottles containing indiscernible fluids. " Do you think he's alone? If he's been here for four years, is there others who were here with him?"

Zero paused in his inspection of Hiiro, tilted his headed cutely, and nodded vigorously. Then he pointed his finger at the opened doorway.

" Where the heck is the brat?" A young masculine voice asked irritated.

" Don't call him that!" A female responded. " He has a name!"

" Yeah, the pain-in-my-neck!"

MeiLan quickly moved to stand by the others and Hiiro used the arm not supporting Zero to pull out his gun from the hip holster. Nephrite and Sailor Moon stood tense. Strange sliding footsteps where they hadn't heard any sounded soft, then sharp as the origins of the two voices got closer, one muttering and the other making grumbling in response.

They turned in at the opened doorway: pale green skin, dark green orbs settled in eye shapes too round to be human, long noses, dainty lips, dark hair, long sharp nails that could be claws, a outfit that looked like a brown leotard. The two non-human creatures were started to see the company in the room and their face flashed with fear.

" Intruders!" The female cried.

The male flung his hand out in front of him, Hiiro pushed the safety off his gun, MeiLan and Sailor Moon settled into a fighting stance and Nephrite felt dark energy larch.

" Watch out!" The Dark General called.

A wave of darkness blasted out of the male's hand, spreading wide the farther it traveled and swallowed the group of five. When Nephrite lowered his hand from his face, he was alone.

**. : back to the beginning : . **


	9. I want to be strong

Thanks for _Kazumi Tachikawa, Silver Moonlight-81, Nerf-or-Nothing, scarlet moon, Bluejello, Choas Babe, Sagishi, Christina, Sunshine Fia, erika, MoonBunny777, gemini's sorrow, mystic soilder, Butterfly's Child, chibi-chibi-tenshi, serenity wayne, serenitylovers, kari15, _and _kagome17_ for reviewing.**  
**

**Hiasobi Author's Note**:

You might recognize some cameo shots of characters from other series. I don't know if this will go into a multi-crossover, but it is and will remain a GW/SM at core. I'm not that great at writing action/adventure genre, this is my first real attempt? So please don't place too much weight of those scenes. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long as this one, but I can't promise. Real life and university eats all the available time during semester.

For those who caught the 'Mugen Infinity Academy' bit, that was from the Sailor Stars arc. It was the Research Institute/School where Sailor Saturn's father worked and Mistress 9 awoke. In the fight to defeat Master Pharaoh 90, the Institute was destroyed, and the government wrote it off as a terrorist attack. The energy read-out was from the research on Daimons and is similar but not identical to the nega-energy. Hiiro recognized the name of the academy from Usagi.

* * *

**Title:** Sand Beneath my Feet  
**Rating:** PG**  
Summery:** He saw her on the shore of an empty patch of beach. It's that simple and complicated. HiiroUsagi. MeilanWufei. NephriteNaru.

* * *

"A teleportation spell?! Is that the best you could think to do?"

"Hey, I didn't see you doing anything!"

* * *

Hiiro opened his eyes to jagged rocks and contorted walls. He looked around to assess the situation, realized he was in a corridor, but not one he recognized. The surrounding darkness and damp air told him he was still in the Negaverse. He was alone except for Zero, who was still perched in his arms and was glancing around curiously. The two alien life forms hadn't come with them, and he assumed that the other were also scattered in various places.

The dark shadows down every direction and open path gave no cue of where they led and where he wanted to go. He listened but heard no sounds indicating where his wife and companions might be. Hiiro turned but heard no signs of the two Youma which might have followed them either.

He did not click the safety back on the gun, danger was not passed. He was now in even more unknown territory than before. But if the surroundings gave clues, he was still in he lower levels that had survived the final battle as the rocks had not crumbled from the ceiling, this meant Nephrite was probably familiar with them and would possibly find them soon.

Zero giggled.

Hiiro turned to look at the bright eyed child who stared straight back with the unnerving gold eyes. He knew those eyes.

"Who are you?" He repeated.

The little boy patted him on the cheek smiling. "Hitostu funny." He wiggled and pushed until Hiiro had to let him down. Tiny feet touched the hard rock firmly and he looked back up at the ex-Gundam pilot. "Hitostu go?" Zero asked and pointed down one of the many openings.

Hiiro looked from the child to the path critically. "Hn." He turned and walked toward the indicated direction and heard tiny patter of feet running after him. The shimmering blonde caught up with him and beamed.

Hiiro was stoic, one hand stuck in his pockets and the other gripping the gun almost lazily. They walked, steps muffled in the silence. Zero giggled as they entered the darkness.

* * *

Nephrite sat in his chair and bit the white thumb of his glove. He sat in the expansive bedroom, his large silk draped bed beside him, a work table with the drawer pulled opened, various books tilted on the tall bookshelf, and maps spread open on the desk top. Parts of the images were crossed off and others circled, some filled in with different colors. He closed his eyes and sent out energy once more, but again all he received was the vision of empty corridors and dark crevices. He stood and walking over to the desk, marked off another area.

They were anywhere in the south regions of Ziosite's old quarters, nor in the dusty laboratories of Jadeite's. Most of the southwest regions were collapsed and the northeast had steadily crumbling walls. The old throne room where Beryl held audience was decimated and so were the inner cravens beyond, which had been unknown to him before.

"Damn it." He slammed his hands down on the maps. "Where can they be?"

He had recognized the pattern in the rush of energy and had been able to identify it as a teleportation spell. There hadn't been enough energy to place them outside the boundaries of the headquarters, they were still somewhere close but none of them had any clue of the architecture of the headquarters and would be wandering lost. They wouldn't be lost forever, time enough he would find them, but the danger lay in that they might meet hostiles or an accident before he found them.

Sailormoon could handle herself, she had done so marvelously before and she had also been inside the Negaverse once before, she would know at least how to navigate. Meilan and Yui were new and most damning of all, human. As trained as the both of them might be in martial arts and that Yui was armed, if they ran in Youma they would stand very little chance.

Meilan was a dear friend, someone who also came back death and understood his conflicting emotions about the second chance at life, had weathered the ups and downs of the war with him on the frustrating sidelines, and had been by his side in the past years. Yui was new, cold and dangerous, but they understood each other as fellow fighters and men, he was precious to Sailormoon. He didn't want the princess to lose any more people who were important to her, especially not her chosen love, not again. Hiiro Yui might be colder, more destructive, darker, and more broken then Endymion but he also cherished and understood Usagi more than any other men he remembered.

This time, without the whiney scouts and bumbling cats, he wanted to offer, at least a little bit, of the happiness Usagi deserved. He wanted to help her, protect her, and protect her happiness the way she had done for Naru when he hadn't been able to.

_Naru…_

Paper crinkled under his palms as his fingers scrunched together. That was an unavoidable topic. He should go see her. He shouldn't go see her. He missed her; he regretted what he had done to her. For the first time in his existence someone had seen his fake side and bad side, seen his projected face and his true self, and as despicable as he was she had accepted him.

Maybe subconsciously he had been procrastinating ever since he had discovered he was alive once more. He was older and he remembered she had been quite young, in her early teens. He had told himself, told Meilan, the Princess, and Yui that he had wanted Naru to have a happy life without his tainted soul but really maybe it had been he had been simply waiting until she grew up enough or he redeemed part of his tarnished soul, which ever came first.

He wanted to come back to her, if not whole, than as someone she could be proud of. He had expanded his business, built up his wealth, cultivated the best connections, stuck to the rules, made his name into a fearsome, unshakable, desirous thing – so when he went back to her he could show the man she had help him become and offer her all she deserved.

But now, gloved hands fisted, purple cloth rustled, and dark energy swirled around him once more. Now he was what he had been that time, tall and powerful, a Dark King, and something other than human.

If he cut himself, would he bleed green…?

He spread the maps again with shaking hands. He couldn't worry abut that right now, he had to find his companions. He had to find Sailormoon. He had to find Meilan. He had to find Yui.

He closed his eyes and threw out a large rush of nega-energy.

If he found Sailormoon, she would be able to redeem him….

* * *

MeiLan spun around at the sound of a scatttered pebble. She threw herself into a roll and felt some flying object miss her by inches. Pushing to her feet she fell into a fighting stance. A head of her stood three more of the unusual creatures she had seen. Youma, was what Usagi and Nephrite had called them.

There were three in total, and they were all slender, one was obviously female with a small bust, and two others who seemed androgynous. They were all very pretty in a way but they were also dangerous. Two had claw like hands and the other raised it arm in front and the purple nails extended into danger length at will.

MeiLan was unarmed. She mentally cursed but she did not allow them to see her frustration.

They stood in a silent stand off for several long moments. She kept her face impassive, eyes hard, and kept her guard up – ready to jump in any direction at the slightest indication of attack.

The three youma were tense in front of her, the smaller two darting their eyes around the surroundings. Suddenly the tallest jumped forward and threw several long brown picks, separating from some part of her hand. MeiLan rolled to the side and continued to roll to avoid the consecutive attacks.

The smaller two scrambled to catch up with the first and MeiLan spun, a purple nail grazing her sleeve at high velocity. She ran up the wall and the taller one shattered the ground where she had been previously standing with a punch. MeiLan threw herself from the wall into a round kick and allowed her momentum to provide the force, her feet contacting the youma's face and the Negaverse creature flew several meters back.

The other two had paused, wide eyed at the spectacle of a normal human being able to fight back, and charged at her, rage on their faces at the attack to their comrade. MeiLan cart-wheeled backwards, catching their chins on a back heel and jumped into a back flip, five sharp brown picks flying under her form. She landed but immediately ran around the perimeter; a moving target was harder to strike.

_Shit. Shit. Shit._

She needed a weapon but there were no available tools for impromptu. She ducked behind a large rock and waited. All the purple and brown flying picks embedded themselves too deeply into the crevices for her to pull out. She needed time to come up with a plan and some type of weapons, neither of which was available to her.

She needed a means to contact her friends for help. If only there was a way to signal her presence to either Nephrite or Usagi, they would be able to fight off the youmas. They had weapons of the non-physical which could destroy the enemies.

_I need a weapon, a sword, dagger, some kind of blade! _

She bit her bottom lip and her brown eyed widened as the large boulder she was behind shattered. Broken pieces slammed into her even as she was expelled from her place by the force.

She impacted onto the far wall and gasped, air leaving her lungs. She rolled off the jagged rock and pushed herself to her feet. Her front and back muscles were bruised, some torn, and she had some degree of internal bruising as well but not too damaging at the moment.

She stared at the encircling youma in a fighting stance. She could continue the battle but without some kind of ability to retaliate the degree of damage they were sure to inflict on her, she would lose. She wouldn't be able to take them out, not with only her feet and fists. She flicked her eyes from one opponent to the next.

_Damn it, I need a weapon, I need help-! _A wave of frustration, anger, sadness, and hopelessness rushed through her. This was always how it had been: in the face of adversity, in the strict rules of her Clan, and under the attack form the Alliance, she couldn't stand up for herself. Traditions confined her as she grew up, then the marriage vows made too early were heavy on her, and it always came to her inability to be strong when she needed it most.

Kneeling over from defeat, mud splatter and covered in dirt, rain sprinkling over her form, she had been so pathetic. She had lost to the stupid scholar of a husband even when she had shouted she would defeat him and show him justice existed. Then she had been too weak to fight off the Alliance when the Colony was attacked. That chauvinistic bookworm who had rather read than study martial arts had done what she couldn't, had driven the enemy back. The stupid man she married with his arrogant and unyielding strength, with the freedom to choose to become more in life then just a cultural vassal and the bringer of the next generation, with his mocking words and cold eyes that never looked towards her, never acknowledged her. She swore she would change him, make him see that women could be strong as well; that she was not so weak to need him like the Clan insisted. But she had died before achieving anything, and now it was too late to change the past.

_I want to be _strong.

Suddenly the youma staring at her all blinked. She did not know why they seemed to be in momentary confusion, but to use it to her advantage she lunged forward and kicked.

Or she would have if her body moved but it was not obeying her commands. She was frozen in place, muscles locked even as she shouted mentally for her legs to move, _move, move!_

She did not understand why her body was not listening to her. At the moment she was vulnerable but the youma were not moving either, even though they did not seem to be under the same paralysis. All three actually took a half step back instead of forward.

_What's_

Suddenly she was enveloped in light. The Negaverse disappeared around her even as she was unmoving. Her body, once again hers, stumbled forward a step in the shining mist.

Scenes flashed over her: battles, victories, losses. A soldier cutting an opponent down, a general in armor falling from his horse, a foot soldier being shot in the shoulder with an arrow, lines and lines of troops marching forward with shields, a battalion leading a charge against a large army, a lady stabbing a man from behind with a dagger, four men surrounded by laughing enemies, a small figure standing in front of malicious numbers, the same figure in a burning field of fire, the stature now revealed as a young boy kneeling in front of a throne, the boy standing stoic in a field of destruction: blood, broken swords, shattered armies, dead bodies, gaping wounds, broken skulls.

_What_

The entrance of a small cave with overgrown wildlife, sunlight pouring into the entrance. Flying down the caverns, turning innumerable corners, beautiful meadows on the right, vast expense of skies on the left, down into the heavens depths, and descending into murky darkness, rocketing up towards shining civilizations, jeering left in the corridors of a kingdom, past heights and light and many veils of reality, she finally came to a stop.

In a desolate room with no essentials, seated on a rigid stone throne that dwarfed his stature, a bit older then before, the boy slumped on the lone throne, golden eyes unseeing. Long dark hair pulled back into a bun, white formal robe on his body, round face slack without expression, a majestic purple diamond in the center of his forehead, fly-away bangs scattered over his face, and billowing sleeves swallowed his small arms.

Something…there was something in the boy's profile. She saw him somehow with a proud tilt of chin, a determined look in his eyes, contempt for soft-handed authorities. The boy was familiar to her.

Her feet settled onto the floor but made no sound as she walked forward. She had never met this boy but she knew him somehow. Inside her mind, her life flashed in disorderly memories.

'…_I am my own person. I want my freedom. I want to fight for myself.'_

'_Oh MeiLan…'_

'_Why can't girls be enough, YuiJing? Why am I not enough? I'm strong. I'm the Heir.'_

'_But you're a girl. It's the fate of all of us, MeiLan. We will marry and become dedicated to the home. Strength and ambition is not ours to have.'_

'_That's stupid! Justice doesn't see gender, age, or station! I'll renounce the name MeiLan and I hereby become Nataku! I'll put an end to this system and make a new one where I can be free!'_

'_Nataku…'_

She reached out and a glow came from her palm. Floating in front of her was a ball of light and she grasped it. The light blazed from between her fingers and expanded until she held the handle of a sharp, perfectly weighted, katana. She knew this was a weapon meant for her.

She looked at the non-responsive boy one last time, and closed her eyes, tightening her hand on the hilt.

_Nataku. _

When she opened her eyes she stood in front of the youma once more, the katana heavily in her grasp. The three flicked their unique eyes from the new blade to her determined features and braced for battle. She placed a grim set on her face and launched towards them.

_It's a promise._

**. : chase your dreams : . **


	10. the darkness looming over his shoulder

Thanks to _IVIaedhros, e.elusive, Butterfly's Child, serenity wayne, Lilaclight2, Seishuku Arashi, MoonBunny777, Fire Dolphin, gemini's sorrow, the Desert Fox, Bluejello, IsisMoon, _and_ kari15, _for reviewing the last chapter.

Chichiue - formal way of saying Father

* * *

**Title:** Sand Beneath My Feet**  
Summary: **Hiiro is seeking redemption. Usagi wants salvation. Meilan chases after justice. Nephrite is trying to deal with being alive for the first time in a thousand years. HiiroUsagi MeilanWufei NephriteNaru. Everything eventually returns to its origins.

* * *

Hiiro walked along the shadowed corridors, uneven edges and pebbles lining his path. He looked left and right, taking care to survey the surroundings carefully, especially since it was hard to see past further then 5 feet in front of him.

Zero was skipping alongside but Hiiro was cautious note that the child's movements made very little noise, even though he was exuberant as a normal human toddler. Once again Hiiro was wary of the white-blond haired boy beside him, who watched the ex-Gundam Pilot with bright, cheerful gold eyes.

"Hitotsu," the child said again, with no regard to the oppression shadows and silence of their surroundings.

He waited for the child to finish but he said no more. "Hn."

Zero laughed delightedly. "Hitotsu, Hotitsu!" He cried and ran ahead.

"Don't!" He warned harshly but the child paid him no mind. He took after the faint patter of footsteps that lead him though several hallways, white-gold stands fluttering upwards by momentum, the only bright object at the end of his sight. "Zero!"

Childish laughter rang out and echoed softly, bouncing off the rocky walls and enclosed space. Zero finally stopped when the path split into three trails. Hiiro approached warily, glancing at all three openings but nothing was discernible from the darkness. Zero stood in front of the route in the middle, waiting patiently for the trained soldier to approach.

"This way." The little boy told him, pointing.

"You know where we are?" Hiiro asked.

The boy nodded fiercely like a toy, "Where we need to be. Okaa-san will be here soon too."

Prussian blue eyes were sharp as they locked onto the smiling gold. "You know where Usagi will be?"

The boy nodded again.

Once more Hiiro wondered. "Who are you?"

The little boy giggled, "Silly Hitotsu," he said magnanimously, "you know the secret."

"I do?" He replied.

Perhaps he did, the answer was right in front of him, but it was impossible. Yet Hiiro's life had never been normal, and ever since he had meet Usagi, the truth was a lot different then he had thought.

_Why do you think the Negaverse attacked during AC195?_ _You were like cattle…could have won gloriously and they would have descended into hell because there was no little girl, no princess forced into battle to save them all._

Hiiro's hand fisted but he was careful not to pull the trigger. Each bullet needed to be handled carefully in the unknown terrain where he had no estimation of how many enemies surrounded him.

_In the end, the fight was intergalactic…_

How much, how much more wasn't he aware of? How much didn't he know? Usagi had told him the basics, but there were always nuances and small details that people kept back, irrelevant to the bigger picture, but precious to the people.

"Come on Hitotsu!" Zero cried and scrambled down the uneven path into the dark gaping mouth.

Hiiro pulled out of his musing and inwardly cursed, running after the impulsive boy. White-gold led him to a wide spacious cavern. The room was empty of all he could see; only glancing upwards showed notches in the high walls that connected to various tunnels.

Zero stood in the center and Hiiro approached him taking mental note that the room extended far upwards; he could only see a deep darkness above them.

"I wonder when I should see Nii-san again." The little boy said absentmindedly.

Hiiro snapped to attention, "Nii-san?"

The golden boy giggled. "Nii-san. You know Nii-san, Hitotsu."

Apparently Hiiro knew a lot about the mysterious boy. And if his speculation was correct, then the little boy was right, Hiiro would know a lot about him.

"Zero…"

The little boy cocked his head, looking so curious and innocent, with his hands linked loosely behind his back, tiny body in a defenseless pose. But then the childlike smile turned into a smirk, almost feral, as he waited for the prefect soldier to finish.

"Zero…System?"

Hiiro held his breath. The air felt stifling, the darkness looming over his shoulder, pressing down on him. The little bit of light was pushed back, the edges of his vision shrinking.

"Are you," Hiiro repeated, needing the confirmation "the Zero System?" As ridiculous as that sounded.

The little boy laughed.

"Hitotsu! So you finally admit it." The little boy no longer sounded like a little boy, vocabulary improving dramatically. "I've been waiting for you. No one else understands us, but you do." The child walked backwards and spread his arms wide. "You found Okaa-san. But…it's not unexpected that you would be attracted towards her right," He tilted his head; eyes focused past Hiiro's shoulder, addressing someone else, "Chichiue?"

Hiiro spun, gun in hand, safety off, and aimed at the surrounding shadows. There was no one there, but a third presence was heavy in the air.

"Who's there?" Hiiro shouted at the emptiness.

And then there is a deep, booming laughter that reverberated round and round inside Hiiro's head, but not in the physical realm.

"Who are you?" Hiiro demanded.

**Beginning. Seed. Ending. Star**.

Hiiro spun. There were no words, more like feelings. Some thing inside of him was communicating with the presence. But he didn't understand.

"Who are you?!" He shouted, "Show yourself!"

**Joy. Anticipation. Contempt. Eagerness. Impatience. Hope. Amusement. Finally. Finally. **

**Finally!**

Hiiro screamed. It felt like something was ripping him apart. No something was pushing him aside. No something was pressing down on him. No something was pulling him out.

No, no, something was, something was-

Something was invading, grasping, pulling, pushing, pouring itself like a liquid into a mold, a mold that was _him_, was Hiiro, and it was delirious with laughter and glee and expectancy and joy and regret and pain and hurt and wondering why, why, why, _why Sailor Moon?_ And it was chaos, absolute Chaos, as Hiiro screamed and shouted and gurgled and melted and was dying and was born and was vanishing from existence and was being created-

"Who. Are. You." Hiiro forced out, falling to his knees, grasping his head.

**Shock. Delight. Anticipation.**

"Who. Are. You?" He asked again, sweat trailing down his body, eyes stinging, muscles strained, every breath and word like the last thing he could do. "Why. Are. You. Here?"

**Derision. Satisfaction. Impatience. Impatience. Impatience. Impatience!**

Hiiro roared. And fell in darkness.

* * *

Across the oceans a blue hand held computer beeped in a sub-space dimension as the energy pattern the device had been tracking for its' absent stressed-out mistress going through medical school, spiked then flat-lined into non-existence.

* * *

Sailor Moon walked down the dim tunnels, each step echoing piercingly with the sound of her heel tapping on the rock surface. There was silence around her, no scattering and scrambling of any critters and creatures. But she could feel them.

Youma. Around her.

But they did not approach her. Instead every time she neared a presence, they retreated further into the shadows, deeper into the metaphysical realm. They did not attack her. They were avoiding her.

But she noticed that if she continued on a certain path and turned a random corner, sometimes several of them were surge towards a direction, their collective hovering around a particular route. She had avoided what she had perceived as the planned ambushed, but now as she kept delving deeper and deeper into the twisting corridors she thought they were directing her.

Everything she moved towards a path that seemed inconsequential, but opposite of the path they were careful not to invade; they surged and blocked the cave route that might have lead her away from their designation.

They were leading her somewhere.

Indeed, they were watchful and alert, but she felt no animosity, just wariness and caution.

Their goal did not seem to be harming her, as they easily out numbered her. Even if she was more now much more powerful and experienced then when she first fought the Negaverse, they would still overwhelm her. There were too many of them. But none were concerned with attacking her, only directing her deeper and deeper into the caverns, sinking lower into the center of the world.

She questioned their motives and wondered what they might have in mind but all thoughts disappeared when she head a very familiar voice, in a very agonized tone.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!"

The cry vibrated down the tunnels and shook pebbles loose from the walls but she paid it no mind as she raced down the passageway, mind focused on the person it belonged to.

Hiiro.

Hiiro was hurt. Hiiro was in pain.

Suddenly the scream cut off. But that was not comforting; it only made her more worried. There were many reasons why he would not longer scream, and quite a few of them were that he _could_ no longer scream; due to a third party or that he was past consciousness.

Heart pounding, feet leaving only wind swept impression on the ground, she was flying without wings towards the direction where the sound had come from. She barely gave a thought to notice that none of the youma blocked her way.

At last she arrived to an entrance giving way to a large encompassing cavern. The room was bare of any conspicuous surroundings and she raced forward until she saw Hiiro's bent form in the center.

He was kneeling, back hunched over, head almost touching the ground, hands covering his face. There were no visible enemies, only Zero who was seated on a ledge of a height which was comparable to two stories high, with no stairs which he could have used to climb up there. But Usagi was never one for analytical thought and they had already established that Zero was not a normal child.

"Hiiro?" She said in the prevailing silence, heart battering against her ribcage. "Are you alright?" She asked when he made no move to respond.

Gradually he leaned back, straightening his spine. When he took his hands away his expression was blank but tears streaks ran down his face. He pushed up on one leg and slowly made his way towards her.

Usagi remained unmoving in her spot just past the entrance. Her breathing was soft and slowing down from the rapid pace of her run, but a heavy weight pressed on her chest. He approached her leisurely, Prussian blue eyes piercing and watchful.

"Sailor Moon?" He asked her.

"Yes." She answered, wondering if he had been caught in an illusion before she had appeared.

"Sailor Moon?" He asked her again, stopping just a step away from her. His beautiful blue eyes were deep and dark, entrancing her. It seemed like the darkness surrounding them rippled with every move he made.

"Yes." She confirmed and gave a tentative smile, sapphire eyes shining. "It's me."

What hadn't she been here to save him from?

Cautiously but steady he reached out his arms to gather her close to his form. She let her eyes flutter close and leaned towards his warmth. Breathing in his sweat, musk, and the scent that was purely him, she gave a contented sigh, allowing the tension to depart from her body.

"It's really you." He rasped.

She looked up at him, ready to offer words of comfort and apology, and he tightened his grip fiercely. He bent down, pressing his lips to her, molding their open mouths together, greeting her with a harsh, fiery, invading kiss. When they finally pulled back, faces flushed and gasping, a dazed expression over both their countenances, Prussian blue eyes were dark and triumphant.

**. : you and me : .**


	11. We are Eternal

Thanks to _Fire Dolphin, gemini's sorrow, firelightz, serenity wayne, Princesakarlita411, chibi-chibi-tenshi, Wild Horsefeathers8753, MoonBunny777, Bluejello, Lilaclight2, Cristina, AndSheSmiled, ThePowerPanda _and_ Amethyst Serenity _for reviewing the last chapter. I wasn't planning to update until after my exams (another two weeks), but you guys prodded me and here you go XD. And yes, I am the evil evil temptress trying to seduce all the fans back into the GW/SM fandom.

Translations:  
Chichiue - formal way of saying Father  
Otou-san - informal way of saying Father, equivalent to 'Daddy'

Cheongsam - Traditional Chinese dress

* * *

**Title:** Sand Beneath My Feet**  
Summary: **Hiiro is seeking redemption. Usagi wants salvation. Meilan chases after justice. Nephrite is trying to deal with being alive for the first time in a thousand years. HiiroUsagi MeilanWufei NephriteNaru. Everything eventually returns to its origins.

* * *

Nephrite knew within a few moments. The surveillance spell returned and he snapped his head up sharply from the maps. He could now detect where Meilan was and quickly teleported towards the newly burning fire of her presence. But as he shifted through the metaphysical realm it was like being caught going against a tsunami, the Nega energy pressed on him, surrounded him like a high pressured vacuum, and poured into him though any available means. When he finally exited back into the physical world he was sweaty and exhausted, but he didn't have time to deal with that.

"Meilan!" he shouted as soon as he rematerialized.

She stood tall in the middle of a battle ground, eyes brightly fierce, defeated youma lying scattered around her feet, green blood splattered on the rocky crevices and dripping down the sharp edge of the katana in her grip. She was dressed in a brilliant white sleeveless Chinese cheongsam, an embroidered glittering Chinese silver dragon circled in flight with its head resting above her heart, the side slits went almost to her waist, exposing the vivid blue pants underneath, and white ankle boots on her feet. Black bangs framing her face, the top half of her hair was pulled back into two buns at the side of her head, and the bottom length was left free to flow past her shoulders. She was slightly battered and dirty, but otherwise uninjured. The air around her was alive with the aura of battle.

She was familiar and yet not, her potential finally filled. But he did not have time to contemplate those implications yet either.

"Meilan!" He shouted once more as she turned, "we have to leave, now! The caverns are collapsing!"

The Chinese girl looked alarmed. "What about Usagi and Hiiro?"

He ran towards her, grabbing hold of her upper arm. "We don't have time," and the ground suddenly shook underneath, pillars starting to crumble, "they'll find us outside!"

Meilan opened her mouth but before she could protest Nephrite initialized the teleport, and this time it went as it was supposed to, appearing a spilt-second later on the surface of the mountain, snow and ice underneath their feet and everywhere around them.

"We have to find Usagi and Hiiro!" The Asian girl said but then took in his clammy and worn out state. "Are you okay?"

He wiped his sleeve across his forehead. "Never mind about that," he told her grimly, feeling the energy of another teleportation, "get ready, we're about to have company."

Meilan gripped the newly obtained katana and in a quick swirl of dark colors Usagi appeared held in the arms of Hiiro. The ground mere meters away from them collapsed into a wide sinkhole as the supporting caverns buckled.

"Hiiro! Usagi!" Meilan cried out in happiness, her grip going lax. "You're safe."

Nephrite quickly extended his arm to stop her as she took two steps approaching the figure of their friends.

"Nephrite?" Meilan inquired as Hiiro watched them with deep blue eyes. Usagi looked off to the side, staring silently at the newly created crater.

"There's someone else coming." The Dark Kingdom General said tightly.

In another swirl of dark energy Zero appeared a small distance away, face curious and full of childish mutiny. "Muu, four levels collapsed. I barely got out in time."

Meilan blinked and Nephrite demanded, "Who are you?" She peered at him at the sudden question but instead of looking towards the young boy Nephrite's hard stare was directed at Hiiro.

The golden child giggled, seemingly unaffected by the ferocious swirl of cold and snow. "So you can tell."

"Yui can't use metaphysical energy." Nephrite said fiercely, then added, "Dark metaphysical energy."

Usagi did not react at the words, still staring down at the snow covered hole, not even when Hiiro carefully let his arms fall away and walked towards the wary General.

"Interesting." The soldier mused in front of Nephrite.

Meilan stood her ground, her hand tightening on the blade. There was a vast, compelling light in Prussian blue eyes and an oppressing presence shrouding the lean body. Her battle senses blared in alarm.

Nephrite clenched his jaw, locked the muscles of his body, resisting the instinct to yield and the urge rising in him from the dark corner that demanded he kneel. He might have sweated more if his body wasn't currently regulated with Nega-energy in totality and the cold artic wind chilling his temperature.

The shorter man stood in front of him, body lax and confident, as if he knew what it was costing the Nega-General to stand. "A tainted star." The soldier remarked, staring at the Dark King but seeing beyond the physical body.

Snow crunched as tiny feet breached the distance to stand next to Hiiro. "So there was another one left," Zero chirped, "Otou-san."

Meilan and Nephrite's eyes flickered at the change of address. "Who are you?" Nephrite demanded once more.

The golden haired child giggled in the ensuing silence as Hiiro smirked.

"Chaos." Sailor Moon whispered from the side.

They turned to her. Prussian blue eyes flashed. She stared out unwaveringly into the distance, the snow scape embracing her turbulent emotions. She slowly tilted her head back and met dark, chaotic eyes. "Right?"

"Sailor Moon." He replied evenly.

Tears welled in sapphire orbs, enticing red lips trembling the slightest bit she could not control.

_Meetings have a meaning, and time...there's always a place and time for a reason._

Her heart ached. _Hiiro. Hiiro. Hiiro. _It whispered over and over in a pray.

She wanted to close her eyes. _It's all my fault._ "Why?"

The battle hardened figure stared at her, muscles tense and eyes devoured in darkness glinted.

"Why?" she whispered once more, the word swallowed by the howling artic wind.

Suddenly, and it was suddenly, traveling by moving the through the non-physical realm to a different destination meters away, Chaos stood imposingly over her slight form. Eyes which had swallowed the heavens and stars and the universe threatened to swallow her.

"Why?" He repeated softly.

Nephrite and Meilan were startled at the sudden translocation and feared for their friend as the enemy loomed over her fragile figure, sapphire eyes bright with unshed tears. Neither moved. The being, Chaos, was too close to Usagi and if provoked he could harm her faster then they could respond, as he had just proven.

A carefully controlled hand raised towards her face and three calloused fingers slowly brushed down the line of her cheek, "Why?" He asked as he trailed past her chin, his face drawing closer, the hand wrapping tenderly around her neck.

"WHY?" He roared and it was like the wind roared along with him, a vicious gust of snow and biting chill that whipped around their figures. Nephrite and Meilan were blown several feet backwards by the force as they tried to rush in at the new development.

She stared back unmoving, meeting his encompassing eyes straight on, unwavering sapphire gaze strong with her conviction.

The wind intensity did not change; it picked up velocity the longer the two stood in standstill, motionless in the eye of the cyclone. She had no answers for him, only questions in which he needed to answer.

"The brightest Star Seed." He said, the words audible above the howling wind only to her.

She did not reply.

"The brightest Star Seed," He seethed, "belongs with me." He tightened his grip.

She carefully breathed through the newly constricted airway.

"The stupid, stupid insects: idiotic, miserable, selfish, greedy creatures thought they could _take_ you away from me." The tone was full of revulsion.

"I don't belong to you." She rasped.

His grip and expression softened; the choking hand moving away to cup her cheek gently. "Even someday, when everything disappears, when stars are born and died, you will always be invincible." He whispered tenderly, "The most beautiful shining Star."

He stood so very close, the heat coming from his body made her front burn and the rest of her body feel cold. The universe stared back at her from his dark eyes.

"Eternal Sailor Moon." He slowly bent and eliminated the centimeters between them.

A million things flashed between them. _Negaverse. Doom Tree. Black Moon Family. Wiseman. Master Pharaoh 90. Dead Moon Circus. Sailor Galaxia. _**Chaos.**

-What suffering you've caused-

-they doomed themselves-

-are you never satisfied with the destruction you wrought-

-are you satisfied to be used by the ignorant-

-should I have destroyed you in the Cordon-

-are you regretting your choice-

-I wanted a chance-

-you chose your sacrifice-

-we were supposed to be _happy­_-

-you knew the consequences-

…_Always fight until the battle's over. That is the destiny of a Sailor Scout.…_

She closed her eyes in pain. _That is the wish of a Sailor Scout._ "When will the battle be over?"

_Princess! Princess_! She could hear Nephrite calling outside the cyclone. But she hadn't been a princess for a very long time.

"We are Eternal," he breathed to her, "Sailor Moon."

…._ fight until the battle's over… fight until the battle's _over_…_

…_no matter how much we risk our lives…there will always be battles._

"When this planet is gone," she began.

"When the solar system has withered away," he continued.

"When the sun has died out,"

"When the galaxy disappeared,"

"When the stars have vanished,"

"And new stars are born,"

"There is always hope and rebirth." _Hope._

"We are Eternal." _Chaos._

"Why?" she whispered.

"Light and Darkness can not exist without one another." His thumb brushed along her cheekbone.

_..To destroy Chaos you must destroy the Cordon as well._

"Trust in your choices," he whispered, "you made the right decision."

She couldn't tell who was talking to her anymore. He looked like Hiiro but he raged like Chaos and he spoke like her husband.

The cyclone dispersed as the fueling fury was gone. Nephrite and MeiLan rushed in but remained a safe distance away.

"Hiiro." She murmured trembling.

Dark eyes flashed and his face twisted with a myriad of unreadable emotions. He took several steps back. "Will you still love me, when you find everything out?"

"Hiiro?" She asked disbelieving.

Prussian blue eyes looked into hers with a thousand bittersweet memories. Then with another swirl of dark energy he was gone.

"No! Hiiro!" She screamed, reaching out only to see her happiness slip through her fingers once more. "Hiiro." She slid to the ground in despair. It was too much. "Hiiro." She sobbed, squeezing her eyes closed, tears leaking through despite her efforts. "Hiiro." She rasped. A thousand sharp needles pierced her and a thorn like chain tightened itself around her heart. It hurt too much. Again her love and happy ending eluded her. With a bright flash was light, she was gone from the snowy plane.

MeiLan watched the scene in shock and turned to Nephrite for explanations only to see the Dark General trembling, his whole body shivering and eyes unfocused. "Nephrite?" She questioned in alarm.

"God. Damn it." He said through clenched teeth and his body finally gave out, body falling slack and towards the snow.

"Nephrite!" She caught him, dropping her sword, but he was heavier then MeiLan and she fell to one knee, trying to keep him balanced. "Hold yourself together!"

"I don't understand." That made two of them.

An eruption to their side made MeiLan jerk. Flaring up from the crater was a dark tsunami of black-purple energy and it loomed dangerously above them until it rushed down towards the helpless man in her arms. The energy tunneled itself as it flowed into the Dark King.

"Nephrite!" The Dark King gasped and gripped her arms tightly until the ordeal was over, then his eyes rolled up and he fell unconscious. "Nephrite! Get yourself together! Nephrite!" She had no idea what was going on and what had happened. And other then the unconscious man in her arms, all her friends had left her in the middle of nowhere on the uninhabited ice continent. "God, damn it!"

**. : tales of destiny : . **


	12. beyond the reach of ordinary men

Thanks to _serenity wayne, Bluejello, Princesakarlita411, e.elusive, Fire Dolphin, Kristine, DollFace, Jypsee_ and those who emailed me (you now who you are) for reviewing. I would lavish you all with praise, but instead I'm pretty sure you'd rather just want the next chapter XD.

I know some of you were very confused, while others, I have a sneaking suspicion you have been looked at the planning map as your guesses are far too accurate.

Double meanings here, but I'm pretty sure they're obvious as a bull's eye. WuFei, Hiiro, and the subtly of a brick. But don't blame the man, he's a soldier not a politician. The politicians show up later.

The rating went up to PG13, cause the characters were getting potty mouthed. x. And ff .net can't decide if it wants to let me use my dividers or not, some times it works, some times it doesn't. please bear with me.

Notes: _Quid Pro Quo _- something for something.

* * *

**Title:** Sand Beneath My Feet**  
Summary: **Hiiro is seeking redemption. Usagi wants salvation. Meilan chases after justice. Nephrite is trying to deal with being alive for the first time in a thousand years. HiiroUsagi MeilanWufei NephriteNaru. Everything eventually returns to its origins.

* * *

Barely six hours after WuFei had initially seen Yui, he opened the door to his office as he returned with another cup of coffee; he sensed and saw the presence by the far wall.

Since Yui had left WuFei sat for hours in his chair, overwhelmed by the past and bitter regrets. The work he had planned on completing lay forgotten and unfinished until WuFei had pulled himself out of his recollections to notice his cold coffee. Physically tired and emotionally drained he hadn't even the energy to curse Yui in his mind. He simply accepted it would be another all-nighter in the office, which he would he getting a lecture about from his partner Sally Po in the morning for, and went to dump out and retrieve another cup of coffee from the staff room.

All of the other workers had left. The only lights shining in the hallway as he walked was the light from his office and the staff room, which never got turned off for those who, like WuFei, pulled erratic all-nighters.

As he entered the office he noticed the man standing motionless mere feet away from his desk, his form half covered in shadows. But it was a familiar picture.

"Yui." He acknowledged, yet something in him, instincts honed by battle, told him to take care.

The eyes glowed with a dangerous light and the titled Perfect Soldier exuded a more imposing air then normal.

"Chang." Yui returned, but made no other movement.

WuFei walked calmly to the edge of his desk, placed his cup down, and did not go around to his chair. He stood where he was, the rectangular table a physical barrier between the Preventer and the renegade fighter.

"You returned fairly fast." The Chinese man remarked, hands spreading out on the table top, "Have you found some information? Anything you want to tell me?"

Yui was silent, half shrouded face impassive. Then he crossed his arms and leaned his shoulder onto the wall. "Your wife is an impressive fighter."

The hands gripped harshly at the edges of the table. Yui shouldn't know that. Yui shouldn't have known about WuFei's marriage in the first place but that was a matter of public record, this was almost speaking of personal information about a deceased that was almost impossible to know. There was also the matter of the verb tense Yui was using. He hadn't thought of it before when Yui had mentioned WuFei's marriage, pondering of tenses was irrational when one knew the truth. Yet Yui was again speaking in the present, and those implications were absurd to contemplate.

"My wife is dead." WuFei bit out, and for a moment he hated Yui for making him say it, to remember it.

His wife's memory was sacred, known only to him and the very few left who had been off Colony when his mentor had detonated his home. He had honored Long MeiLan's memory by fighting in the War and naming his Gundam Nataku. Though it could have been argued he made a mess of it in his jumbled ideals at the time.

He had fought for her justice, and he still was, only now he doing it in a different way.

Perhaps the Perfect Soldier had discovered WuFei's old certificates but hadn't found the articles concerning the prominent Long Clan Heir's funeral. The polished edges of the table dug into his palm but WuFei refused to let the anger show on his face, no more then what was already visibly.

"And what would you do if you had a second chance?" Dark eyes looked at him considering.

WuFei glared at the absurdity of that concept. "What are you getting at Yui?"

"What would you do?"

"She's _dead._" WuFei said through clenched teeth and hated Yui all the more for using his wife's memory for his owns means.

"And if she's not?"

WuFei looked at him in disbelief then let out a bark of laughter. "I _buried_ her. I was there when her last breath left her body. I held her as her warmth cooled. I-" _was weak._

It had been an emotionally grueling day, this was the second time the past had come to rage at him.

"What do you want Yui?" he asked warily. "And what does this have to do with the read-outs from the Artic?"

"What would you do if she was still alive?"

"Yui!"

"The energy is gone."

"What?" WuFei demanded. "What do you mean?"

"The energy is gone." Yui replied evenly. "You can check, but it's gone."

"How can it be gone? Did someone harness it? What was the source? How did you know it was gone?" He demanded.

"Wufei."

The Chinese man narrowed his eyes. So they were playing _Quid Pro Quo_. Yui must have something up his sleeve, he always did, but WuFei had no clue how his response might matter.

"If," he stopped. "If," he couldn't even speak of the ridiculous possibility. "If," maybe because he had conditioned himself never to think about it, because otherwise he would never live in the present, in the reality, "if she was still alive." He finally said. "If," he struggled with the words, "my wife was still alive, if I had a second chance…" He spoke clumsily and halting, but Yui made no indication to hurry him along, simply watching the Chinese man with dark, glittering eyes. "I would show her the man I've become. Hold on to her. This time, appreciate her. Show her I've become a man worthy of her, because of her."

WuFei let out a deep breath and it was like a weight had been freed from his chest, at the same time regrets crushed down his shoulders. Perhaps he had needed to talk about her, but he never wanted to share her with anyone. Not even now, when perhaps he knew that speaking of her would help him let go.

He didn't want to let go.

He had made peace with himself through the war and Mariemaia Rebellion about the stupid and ignorant youth he had been, and the past he couldn't change, he accepted his victories as well as failures. But he never accepted that he had to let her go. He didn't want to. MeiLan was his ghost and burden, his justice and conviction, his to carry and bear. _His _deity and warrior spirit.

He looked at the other soldier to see Yui closed his eyes. The other man's skin seemed clammy and too pale, a hand twitched in the darkness.

"Yui?"

The brunette breathed shallowly and his eyelids fluttered open, hands fisting together. "I'm fine." The man said evenly but his voice was weaker then before and the surrounding darkness seemed to be drawn into his body, the shadows around them lightening.

"Yui?" WuFei repeated.

Prussian blue eyes flickered as if the Perfect Soldier was fighting with something internally. Hiiro Yui closed his eyes and for long moments his face was strained. Then it smoothed out and the stoic man was back to normal.

"What if she was alive," Yui finally said with the correct past tense, "but didn't want you to know it?"

WuFei's lips pinched. There had to be a reason why Yui was so adamant about speaking of MeiLan. "If my wife is alive, I would seek her out. Hold on to her. Make things right, this time around."

Blue eyes were half amused and WuFei pondered on the reason, and mentally cursed, as he noticed his own slip of verb tense.

Yui's tone was sardonic. "What if she's become beyond the reach of ordinary men?"

WuFei replied bitterly. "Hasn't she always been?"

MeiLan had been the last Heir to the prominent Long Clan. Had she been male, there would have been no one to match her status. There still hadn't been. No other Clan could even think about matching up to the prestige and power the exulted Long Clan held. But because she had been a female, and the line descended through male children, she had to marry and produce sons. There had been many stringent and harsh requirements to be selected as her husband, when they had informed WuFei that he was the final candidate, he hadn't believed it. His own family had been shocked but ecstatic. What an honor it was. But it had stung WuFei's pride that he was to be used and not the user. He would not be in the traditional superior position of the male to the female. Instead WuFei was to be the means to an end, instead of the ending.

What arrogance the younger boy he had been had. And what insensitivity that he couldn't for a moment, ever have thought of the indignation that MeiLan must have suffered to know that no matter how talented and strong she was, because of a single circumstance of birth, simply because she had been born a girl, she would never be enough for her people: to know that she had to marry _down_ because there were no peers of her own standing. If she had any male cousins or even uncles who had been eligible, no other option would have been contemplated. But war was approaching, and all her male relatives were married or engaged.

She had always been beyond his reach, beyond anyone's reach. If he or any of the other Clan boys had come courting, they would have been laughed out of the compound. None of them could ever match up to her status. But because of the circumstances, because in the end it didn't matter who the husband was as long as they were _MeiLan's_ sons, WuFei's superior intellect and marital art skills among his peers had allowed him the coveted position as her husband.

But that did not mean he was worthy of her. She had known it. He had known it. What a wedding day that had been; her icy face and plain dissatisfaction of him, his act of blatant disrespect, throwing down his wedding gear at the altar. The consummation later they both forced themselves to endure for the sake of honor and duty. The shame and disgrace he must have brought on her, she had lashed out in teenage rage but endured her fate fantastically.

She was Nataku, strong and fierce and refused to bow even when defeated. She had always been beyond the reach of ordinary men. Even beneath him in the mattress or held in his arms as she was dying, she could never chained down to such mortal men as he.

There was silence between the two men.

Yui threw back his head, whole body shaking, and laughed deep, sharp, and mockingly. When he looked at WuFei the eyes were darker then any blue and the sense of otherworldliness was back and stronger then before.

"Yes. Yes." Yui agreed with a cruel twist of the lips. "Yes she has."

"What does my wife have to do with anything?" WuFei demanded, no longer patient to play the game.

"'My wife', 'my wife'; for one who is considered deceased," Yui smiled contemptuously, "you're pretty possessive."

WuFei glared. "The point Yui."

The brunette looked at him for a long, quiet moment. "Your wife," Yui replied, his lips curling with satisfaction, "is alive. No if, or what if, or maybe, about it."

WuFei stared blankly.

"Long MeiLan," there was a certain amount of enjoyment Hiiro Yui was getting out of this announcement, "is alive. _Your wife_ is alive."

"You lie." WuFei spat. "What the hell do you think you're trying to do? I was _there_. I held her when she died and I _buried_ her, you fucking bastard. Stop trying to play games with me!"

"She is an impressive fighter." Yui continued unruffled. "Her stance is solid but her frame is too slight for some of the moves she tries. She likes to practice her Tai Chi at annoyingly early hours before the sun rises. Her gaze is solid but always staring beyond you when she's facing you."

WuFei was frozen. Those weren't thing Yui should know. Weren't things anyone except WuFei should know.

"She's stubborn and headstrong, too proud to admit she's wrong. Too naïve to give up her ideals, even in the face of adversity."

"Shut up."

"Too easily provoked. Refuses to back down from a fight."

"Shut _up._"

"Never takes the easy way out. Refuses to accept any signs of weakness."

"Shut UP!" WuFei slammed his fist onto the desk. "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" He roared at his once fellow comrade. "You have no right to speak of her." His face contorted in fury. "You have no right to talk as if you _know_ her!"

Yui's deep, controlled breathing was loud in the silence.

Dark glittering eyes watched him amused. "No right to speak as if I know her or no right to know her?" a deliberate pause. "When you don't."

WuFei threw the cup of coffee at the composed soldier. The liquid sloshed over the rim and onto the floor broads as it sailed across the air, but it was still half full when it reached the shrouded figure. But without making contact the coffee, cup and liquid, was swallowed into the darkness. The empty porcelain rolled out of the shadows a moment later.

WuFei now knew he wasn't dealing with a regular human. He wasn't dealing with a human at all, the sense of otherworldliness heavy and thick in the air.

"She's alive Chang WuFei. Long MeiLan is alive, I can guarantee you that." There was something so persuasive and enticing about the voice.

This wasn't Yui. WuFei wasn't speaking with Hiiro Yui at the moment.

"She's alive, and ascended. She's become a woman far beyond the reach of ordinary men. And in the future, she will only become more so." There was something almost bitter about the words.

WuFei stared. He wasn't sure if he could believe the words from this suddenly unfamiliar man, such impossibilities. Yet the air was thick with things he didn't understand and he remembered the cup flying into nothingness and rolling out of wispy shadows. If it was possible, if such an improbability was true…

"That doesn't matter." WuFei replied adamantly. "It doesn't matter. We've known that since the beginning. And she's mine now. Given to me by family and honor and duty. If no man can measure up to her, and all are equally undeserving, she'll belong with me." His tone was fierce. "It was decided a long time ago. She's _my_ wife."

Obscure eyes gazed at him but obsidian was unwavering. He wasn't going to back down from his convictions. She was the truth he had chosen to carry, his strength and justice, _Nataku_.

The wide abyss staring back at him slowly blinked and became vivid, but human, Prussian blue. "Show me sin can be forgiven."

WuFei and Hiiro stared at each other, both faces set with a hard expression.

"And tell Ms. Dorian, the people she's dealing with won't be patient for much longer."

Then WuFei was alone in the office.

* * *

The technician pulled off the ear pieces and leaned back in his chair. "Contact the Governor General. We received another extraterrestrial message."

"What does it say?" His comrade asked. This was the latest of the top secret communication they had been receiving from the reaches of the stars since they began in the last month.

The Technician smiled warily. "What do they always say? They want the return of their Princess."

**. : past and present : . **


	13. Two lifetimes

This is for all those who waited for this embarrassingly late chapter.

* * *

**Title:** Sand Beneath My Feet  
**Summary:** Hiiro is seeking redemption. Usagi wants salvation. Meilan chases after justice. Nephrite is trying to deal with being alive for the first time in a thousand years. HiiroUsagi MeilanWufei NephriteNaru. Everything eventually returns to its origins.

* * *

The place she came to, rematerializing from incandescent light, was heartbreaking and familiar. There was a wide King size bed in the far wall, a large dresser to her left, a sizable vanity table to her right, and dozens of precious, sentimental trinkets allotted over the available flat surfaces.

It was their bedroom.

With a low whine the Eternal Pretty Sailor Soldier Sailor Moon slid to the floor, releasing her transformation, and Tsukino Usagi wrapped lonely, aching arms around herself. Shining eyes closed and trembling lips were pinched tight as she rocked back and forth.

_We were supposed to be _happy.

So many battles fought, and won, and lost, and endured; simply for that wish to be given a chance. So many sacrifices made again and again and again until it was hard to remember a time when she _hadn't_: when she had been simple and ignorant and didn't have to _fight on_ because that was what she had to do, because that was what she had been created to do, because she was _the last_ and she had to – had to win, and walk, and grin, and smile at the end even when she was broken and bleeding because _everything will be okay._ She had to believe that above all else. She gave everything for that.

_We're going to be _happy.

But so many battles fought and the war still raged on. There was no end to the battles and she was so, so tired of the constant fighting, constant wariness, constant need to live in the moment because in the next it would not only be stolen but _ripped _away by unknown, unnamable forces that whispered: _it's all your fault, it's all your fault. They could have been happy; Rei, Mina, Ami, Makoto, everyone; they could have been happy if you were only stronger/faster/smarter. You were supposed to save them._

_So why do you always fail?_

She gasped, heart wrenching and ribs expanding painfully.

_Why are you never enough?_

She sobbed and immediately stopped herself with a hand holding tightly on the bottom half of her face.

_Why do battles still exist, if you've already saved them all – if you deserve to be happy._

She cried, tears leaking from her eyes and sounds twisted from her throat.

_I wish, I wish, I wish, _"I wished," she whispered, "for everything to be right." _At the beginning_. _The first time._

"Soon." A calloused roughened hand soothing stroked her soft locks. "Soon it will be."

This time she welcomed the peace that darkness brought.

**. : - : .**

"The Artic Contingent has returned from their trip, Sir." The officer reported, holding out a folder.

WuFei took it but did not bother to flip the cover open. "And?" He demanded.

No hesitation. "Read outs indicate the energy is gone."

"Gone." WuFei stared at the other man with hard eyes.

_As you must have suspected, _the officer was careful not to say, eyes staring away from his superior, _calling the team in and sending them out in the middle of the night._

"Gone," the ex-gundam pilot repeated.

"Should I schedule a priority meeting first thing in the morning?" The officer asked.

Because the higher-ups would definitely be interested in how the volatile energy they had been tracking for the past months have suddenly disappeared. And how Preventer Chang knew or had enough of a warning to know to send out the specialist team.

WuFei sat back, refusing to show his strain. There was something happening with Yui, an unknown object with enough energy emissions to make it possible to do large damage has suddenly disappeared, apparently the Dorian was hiding some matter that dealt with a potential danger to national security from the Preventers, his inner peace and convictions were being questions, and he hadn't slept in the last 52 hours.

He had gotten soft, WuFei noted almost wry.

He hadn't had to deal with so many perilous unknowns since the war, when he stepped into a large gundamium suit and was shot into space, not knowing if he would land on the Earth to see a true sky for the first time or be burned up in the atmosphere like the Meteor the Operation was named for.

He didn't understand how so many things had apparently slipped under his notice, or why everything was happening now. The Artic, Yui, and now, Dorian as well according to Yui.

"You're dismissed." WuFei said.

His subordinate gave him an accessing look before nodding, "I'll notify the appropriate people about the debriefing," and walked out.

The problem with having good officers was that they knew how to think for themselves. WuFei didn't know if he should be pleased or annoyed about his subordinate Joel's presumptions, but neither the less, there was a reason why WuFei had chosen to promote the man as his Second in Command. Mostly to play niceties to the public and the bureaucrats that WuFei couldn't be bothered with.

When his door closed WuFei got up from his chair abruptly, fists opening and clenching repeatedly.

Une and the others would want to know how WuFei had known or suspected, and then they would want to know his informant, and then why Yui would have chosen to reveal himself after all this time.

_MeiLan._

WuFei jerked around and started pacing. He had been trying not to think since the last encounter with Yui, after alerting the team that they were to have headed out _yesterday_ and he wanted a new report on the Artic situation on his desk _now_. He tried not to consider impossibilities, refused to dwell on ifs, would not consider ludicrous claims.

_The energy is gone._

_Long MeiLan is alive._

His chest was tight, jaw clenched, knuckles white. He really wished Yui was there so he could plant him one, for giving one truth and a blatant lie, for dangling such temptation in front of him. For how much WuFei wanted to _believe_ even when it would be utterly absurd to.

For offering the possibility that maybe, just maybe WuFei had redeemed himself after all. That there was, somewhere in the wretched universe, there was enough grace and benevolence, _justice_, in existence that WuFei had earned the opportunity to be happy.

WuFei almost laughed.

Absurd.

Here he was a Scholar turned Terrorist turned Peace Keeper and he was thinking on wishes being granted when he was long past the age of such fanciful delusions.

_Weak._ Running away from reality. And he had thought that MeiLan had been the dreamer between them; living in denial of the world, believing only in her omniscient justice. He closed his eyes.

Perhaps it was something else she had left for him. If so, he would grab hold with both hands and pull it inside of him, into his heart and mind and _soul_ so that it would never be forgotten even if it was denied to blossom. Another piece of her that he had never appreciated until too late.

There was a knock on the door.

"What?" WuFei barked.

Joel turned the knob, standing in the doorway. "I didn't get a chance to report, before you dismissed me," the tone almost flippant, "that we also, in addition to the analysis, brought back two unidentified persons from the ice country. They're currently in the infirmary."

The Chinese man stared at him. "And you didn't think to mention this?"

Joel shrugged, "didn't seem too important."

"Not important." WuFei repeated.

Joel made a nonchalant noise, "I thought you might have an emergency matter to attend to. You dismissed me pretty fast."

Obsidian eyes narrowed; annoyance at all Americans in his acquaintance coursing through him.

"I will deal with you later." WuFei told him, walking past him to head towards the infirmary.

"Don't forget your meeting with the European diplomat in the afternoon." Joel sang behind him.

**. : - : . **

Relena signed the paper in front of her and looked up to see another stack on her desk that she sworn hadn't been there earlier in the afternoon. When she took this job, no one warned her just how tedious and aggravating it was trying to get through all the political red tape. She remembered the mounds of paperwork that her father did, but somehow there had seemed to be less back then, maybe because he hadn't been trying to counsel the Colonies and Earth Sphere United Nations after an immediate war.

AC195. The war to end all wars.

Except in AC 197, barely two years later, there was an uprising. The problem was there were too many soldiers and not enough jobs available at home. Not enough occupations for the young generation spilling with vengeance and loss to be diverted to. The government need to take some responsibility, create the jobs. The Preventers were a great resource to direct the rigid career military type, but where does one send the disillusioned ones who no longer believed, in religion or country?

Relena sighed. ESUN and the Colonies were both depleted of resources, trying to recover from the damage and both still trying to play a cold war, blaming each other for as much as possible to save their own patriotic beliefs.

Handling two large super powers were enough, but now there were this. According to the space stations, apparently the signal had been sent from the direction of the Sun. Beyond their means of technology detection, there was a civilization sending a message.

The words were simple but the concept was hard to comprehend.

_This is the Sol Kingdom sending a greeting to the people of the Earth. We request that you allow us to speak with our Princess. Further silence and blocked communication will be taken as a prelude to a declaration of war._

**. : - : . **

MeiLan remembered snow, a painful cutting cold breeze, and huddling down next to Nephrite's still but soft breathing body, thinking there was _no way_ she was going to end like this. She wouldn't allow it. But staying there, in a cave she had been lucky to find close by, dragging Nephrite's taller and heavier body, waiting or hours on end for either Nephrite to wake up or for her other two friends to come back for her. Wondering why she wasn't frozen yet but not wanting to dwell on the fact, watching Nephrite's every exhalation puff into vapor, telling herself that Nephrite couldn't die from exposure to the cold, he had _lived_ in the Artic before for the love of all that was sacred. Bending down and curling into herself, thinking she hadn't even changed the world yet, two chances at life and she hadn't achieved anything yet – she wasn't going to die!

White, endless white, blurring in front of her as the snow blew up and out and around the landscape. The exposed rock surface of the crater disappearing steadily under the downpour. It was hard to keep her eyes open and she knew she was falling asleep; falling asleep in the vast, white coldness hat would swallow her and everything she was, and everything she hadn't had the chance to do.

Two chances at life and she had never even been able to make her husband proud of her, proud of being with her. Tears brimmed under her eyelids, pain shuddering through her freezing body, exhaustion dragging her down into the darkness where she had been before, this time with no light at the end of the tunnel to bring her back.

Two lifetimes and neither time had she been enough; enough for her Clan, enough for herself, enough for her stupid Scholar who was probably so much happier without her stubbornness forcing an unproven justice on him. Two lives and neither time had she been able to tell him that she loved him, was proud of him, proud to be with him. The honor it had brought her, to have been with someone who even if he hadn't believed in her, as least he'd been a believer of himself. And how strong he was, the strength of his belief was, for changing the world. "Husband," she breathed.

Warm calloused hands took hers, gripping tightly onto her hand, trembling, but harsh enough to hurt if she wasn't past it all already. "I'm here Nataku." The words were fierce, "I'm right here MeiLan. Come back to me my strong, stubborn wife."

MeiLan almost let the tears go; this was the end, she knew it. She wasn't strong enough, she had never been, and WuFei would have never called her that. Those last words he had given her on the meadow were only because she was beyond help, and he had wanted to comfort her. Once again, his voice was with her at she died. She wondered what that said about her, how it was only as she lay dying she could hear his voice again. Her brain was shutting down, but at least in her last moments, her delusions would send her off in comfort.

"MeiLan." Her name was almost reverent, an intonation she had never heard before. "Come back to me my prideful warrior god." The voice was wavering, "I'll prove to you your justice exists." A soft kiss in the centre of her open palm. "Please."

This was a dream. WuFei had never wanted her. Even in her delusions, where she might hear the words, she could never make herself believe it.

**. : your and mine conviction : . **


End file.
